Putin's naglost on Ukraine is a feature, not a bug

Photo by Jasmine Yu on UnsplashFacing reverses on the battlefield, Russia’s president Vladimir Putin is doing his worst, targeting Ukrainian civilians with devastating effect by attacking essential infrastructure. The one that keeps the lights on, heats homes and provides running water.

By inflicting as much pain as possible on Ukraine’s people, Mr Putin hopes to break them. He sees it as a sovereign right to go down his chosen path, no matter what. Some little time ago, Mr Putin spoke on the subject of sovereignty with what some would call naglost, an insulting audacity. He said: “I am convinced that real democracy in a multipolar world is primarily about the ability of any nation-I emphasize-any society or any civilization to follow its own path and organize its own sociopolitical system.” This, as Russia continues in its attempts to erase the sovereignty of a whole country and to physically and mentally maim a whole generation of Ukrainians.

Ukraine is in a tough spot, as its preside…