Will Russia attack Nato? How Putin could respond to Ukraine sanctions from the UK and other Nato countries – iNews

Russian President Vladimir Putin is showing no signs of calling off his invasion of Ukraine.

On Monday the United Nations Human Rights Office released figures confirming 406 civilians, including 27 children, have died so far, with a further 801 people reported injured. It warned the real number could be much higher.

Ukraines military has claimed more than 11,000 Russian troops have been killed since the start of the invasion.

Russian forces have only been able to seize control of one large city so far Kherson in the south. Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol have remained in Ukrainian hands despite heavy Russian bombardment.

A whistleblower from Russias security service has said the invasion will be a total failure and could result in real international conflict in the coming months.

There arefears President Putin could turn to other countriesif he is successful in Ukraine, and thepossibility of him attacking Nato countries cannot be ruled out completely.

Karin von Hippel, who was a nonpolitical senior adviser at the US State Department during the Obama administration told NBC President Putin could potentially target non-Nato nations in Eastern Europe, such as Moldova and Georgia.

He added that if the Russian leader starts to slowly expand his empire, there will be several other places that are in Nato that are going to be getting extremely stressed out.

Its very unclear at this stage that anyone can convince Putin to do anything other than what he wants to do, he said.

Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko may have revealed Russian plans to invade Moldova.

His troops are believed to have joined Russias invasion of Ukraine, having reportedly entered the Chernihiv region in the north of the country on Tuesday morning.

The UK has imposed sanctions on Belarus for its role in the war. President Lukashenko is a close ally of President Putin, and Russia has been able to use his country as a launchpad for attacks.

But their plans could go beyond Ukraine based on a map shown during a televised broadcast from President Lukashenko.

The map showed attack plans for Ukraine, but also displayed a possible route into Moldova from the Ukrainian port city of Odessa, via a large red arrow.

It also showed red shading around the Moldovan border, potentially indicating plans for an occupation.

If Russia were to invade Moldova or Georgia the situation is likely to be similar to that of Ukraine, in that Nato forces including the UK and US would support Moldova by sending both military and non-military aid, but would not engage in battle with Russian troops directly.

President Putin has warned other countries against intervening in Ukraine. He has also compared Western sanctions against Russia to a declarations of war.

To anyone who would consider interfering from outside: If you do, you will face consequences greater than any you have faced in history, he said last week. All the relevant decisions have been taken. I hope you hear me.

He later issued what many took to be a threat of nuclear war, adding: Russia, even after the collapse of the USSR and the loss of a significant part of its nuclear potential, is today one of the most powerful nuclear powers.

And moreover, it has certain advantages in a number of the latest types of weapons. In this regard, no one should have any doubt that a direct attack on Russia will lead to defeat and dire consequences for a potential aggressor.

There are also fears he may want to continue expanding Russias empire out, with the Baltic states the most likely targets.

However, Nato uses a system of collective security, whereby its independent member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party.

This means were Russia to attack a Nato state such as Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania, it would then be at war with all 30 Nato members.

While Russias forces are strong they would be dwarfed by Natos collective power, making touching a Nato member incredibly risky.

Natos core task is to protect and defend all allies, Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said. There must be no room for miscalculation or misunderstanding.

An attack on one will be regarded as an attack on all. This is our collective security guarantee.

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Will Russia attack Nato? How Putin could respond to Ukraine sanctions from the UK and other Nato countries - iNews