I follow what you're saying. What overt response could they offer? Their opening bid was an attempt to take Kiev. Whatever Russia can do, it is trying to do. It's already all on the table. They're doing better now because so many of the incompetent Russians are dead, but they're still limited by what Ukraine allows them to do.
> I follow what you're saying. What overt response could they offer?.
There’s lots they could do but they won’t because they can’t.
* Declare it war instead of a SMO although I think in reality this doesn’t change anything
* Try and take Kyiv again although I don’t think they will because I don’t think they can
* Test a nuclear weapon Russian territory as a warning. No idea why this hasn’t happen but my guess is it just bolsters support for Ukraine.
My point is the exact one you’re making despite multiple hits on Russia proper there’s no response because they are doing everything they can realistically.
Right: it seems like this basically comes down to them using nuclear weapons, or some other major escalation that will generate a coalition response. Otherwise: there really aren't retaliatory options open to them that I see. Every horrible thing you can imagine doing, they've already done or attempted to do, and then left a trail of Russian Armed Forces corpses and burning tanks as Ukraine pushed them back.
