That being said, the next question is: will Russia retaliate and if so, how? There have been some people, such as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, who have speculated that NATO might drop an atomic bomb on a Ukrainian target and blame it on Russia. However, such an attempt would have an American or British "signature". A large minority of Americans and probably citizens of other Western nations mistrust anything stated by their governments. The COVID lockdowns and the "vaccines" alienated a considerable portion of the population. In this country, we had an "in your face" steal of the 2020 election, with the 24-7 gaslighting by the entire MSM spectrum, from Fox to Axios.
Putin's most recent rant against Western decadence is aimed directly at the skeptical minority in the NATO countries. Many Western conservatives have the attitude, better Putin than Biden. In the 1930s, French rightists had a saying, better Hitler than Blum. We know what happened to France in 1940.