Putin hoped it would. They went for a decapitation strike early on, which failed. The Azov regime held on, and that allowed time for NATO to bring their resources to bear. So now Russia needs to fight a long war, potentially against NATO itself, so they have been gearing up for that.
And they will do it.
And after years of nuclear threats and Russia making cowardly sneak attacks on its neighbors NATO is adding new members and preparing for war with Russia and Belarus.
The news this morning showed Ukrainian pilots learning to fly A-10 Warthogs...looked like Mountain Home AFB.
And what is this about? Putin wants to restore the USSR and retake control of Eastern Europe.
That cannot be allowed to happen.
By the way, calling Kyiv “the Azov regime” makes as much sense as calling the US government “the 101st Airborne regime”.
It’s nonsensical to propose that a mere military unit sets national policy in any country.