powers must worse to the only acceptable end game. quote, a victory for ukraine really will be a victory for all who believe in democracy and the rule of law. citizens of existing democracies and members of the democratic opposition in russia, cuba, belarus, and hong kong will all be emboldened in the case of a russian victory. tactics would be applied all over ukraine, creating mass terror, mass violence, and instability for years to come. yes, if we accept that outcome, autocrats from minsk to beijing will take note that genocide is allowed. russia wants us to be so afraid that we are crippled by fear and cannot make decisions, that we withdraw all together, leaving the way open for a russian conquest of ukraine and eventually poland or even further into europe. putin remembers very well an era when soviet troops controlled the eastern half of germany, but the troops will not decrease if russia carries out massacres in ukraine. it ll grow.