In order to create the russified Ukraine he dreams of, Putin will need to pacify or remove the vast majority of the population. The Kremlin has already reportedly drawn up lists of Ukrainian politicians, journalists, and activists who will be subjected to arrest and possible execution if Russia succeeds in occupying Ukraine’s major cities. Given the scale and ferocity of popular opposition to the Russian invasion, any pacification campaign would need to rival the worst crimes against humanity of the totalitarian twentieth century.

Western leaders have reacted impressively to the shock of Putin’s invasion, but they may not yet have grasped the true gravity of the situation. The risk of genocide in Ukraine is now very real.

Putin has crossed almost every imaginable red line and turned his country overnight into an international pariah. There can be no way back for him now. Instead, he will pursue his criminal ambitions with an increasing recklessness that reflects his growing desperation. He will be aided and abetted by a nation that has largely swallowed his poisonous propaganda. As Voltaire famously warned, “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”