Thread by @mhmck

Russia's offensive against Ukraine can only be deterred if steps are taken immediately to convince the Putin regime that Ukraine will be defended, come hell or high water.

Here are some measures that may thwart a Russian offensive or help defeat it when it comes …
1/9

Establish a massive, overwhelming "forward presence" in Ukraine like NATO maintains in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

The Shyrokiy Lan training range in Mykolaiv region may be a suitable base. Sea Breeze exercises have been held there with Ukraine's partners. 2/9

Deploy the Lithuanian–Polish–Ukrainian Brigade to Ukraine. It's not doing much good in garrison in Lublin, Poland. To deter or defeat Russian armed aggression is the reason LITPOLUKRBRIG was formed in 2014. 3/9

Complete the naval operation to deploy Ukrainian patrol boats to Berdiansk. Ukraine successfully stationed two vessels on 23 September 2018 but an identical operation on 25 November 2018 failed when Russia committed an act of piracy in international waters of the Black Sea. 4/9

Remove restrictions on American military technology sold to Ukraine. The Javelin ATGMs Ukraine purchased should be allowed to be deployed to the battlefront in Donbas. The Russians have to know that their tanks will be destroyed, in great numbers. 5/9

Cut off Russia from the SWIFT electronic funds transfer system. Ban all financial transactions with Russian individuals and entities. Impose an embargo and blockade on Russia.

Do it now. Do it because Russia has been waging unprovoked war on Ukraine for over 7 years. 6/9

Refuse to recognize Russian Federation passports as valid travel documents. Invading Ukraine, Russia has pursued an aggressive policy of "passportization" of Ukrainian citizens in Crimea and Donbas. Moldovans and Georgians are also afflicted. A Russian passport is garbage. 7/9

Indict Putin as a war criminal in The Hague. Putin is personally responsible for killing over 13,000 Ukrainians, maiming over 45,000 and making over 1.5 million "internally displaced persons" – refugees within Ukraine. Putin's abuses of human rights are horrific. 8/9

Engage in cyber warfare against Russia. Knock out the power grid. Disrupt communications. Maintain overwhelming dominance in cyberspace so that there is never a repeat of the successful Russian attack on the U.S. that was identified in October 2020. 9/9