The world has been waiting for days, wondering when Vladimir Putin would send Russian forces into Ukraine. Some even doubted that he would do so. But on Wednesday evening it finally happened: Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Make no mistake — Putin has been itching for some time to make Ukraine a Russian possession once again. So he acted, because Joe Biden is a feeble president. And Putin is like an alpha wolf: he smells weakness and went in for the kill.

Zelensky’s Powerful Speech

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had tried to call Putin in a desperate attempt to hold talks. But Putin refused to take his call. So Zelensky addressed the Russian people directly, speaking in both their language and in Ukrainian. He promised them Ukraine would defend themselves, and that when attacked, the Russians “will see our faces, not our backs, but our faces.”

Zelensky may be a young man, and a former comedian, of all things. Yet his words reminded me of Winston Churchill’s speech to the British people in 1940:

“We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender. . .”

Unlike Churchill, however, Zelensky doesn’t stand much of a chance against Putin and his massive forces. In the meantime, he declared martial law in Ukraine, and advised his people to “stay calm, stay at home, the army is doing its work.”

Putin Means Business

Vladimir Putin went for Ukraine’s throat by immediately attacking Kyiv, the capital, in the early morning hours. Reporters heard explosions before sunrise.

Explosions heard in the distance before sunrise in Kyiv, Ukraine.

LATEST: https://t.co/Hq3CVT4l2t pic.twitter.com/87ZNAV2uf5

— ABC News (@ABC) February 24, 2022

An explosion could also be seen outside Zelensky’s office in Kyiv. Explosions also were heard in Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine.

image from the Ukrainian President’s office sent to CNN's @mchancecnn following the loud explosions the team heard on the ground in #Kyiv #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/IpJTDdmSCc

— Michael Holmes (@holmescnn) February 24, 2022

Russia’s Defense Ministry announced it is using “high precision weapons” to take out military infrastructure, air defense facilities, military airfields and planes. No civilian targets — yet.

Putin called the invasion a “special military operation.” His goal is the “demilitarization and denazification,” since he claims (falsely) that Ukrainians have been carrying out ethnic cleansing in eastern parts of the country:

“Its goal will be to defend people who for eight years are suffering persecution and genocide by the Kyiv regime. For this we will aim for demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, as well as taking to court those who carried out multiple bloody crimes against civilians, including citizens of the Russian Federation.”

Denazification? Using blitzkrieg tactics, concocting false flags, and accusing “undesirable” people of false crimes sounds so. . . well, Nazi, doesn’t it? As Tom Rogan of the Washington Examiner wrote:

“Putin is now doing exactly what the Nazis did so brutally so many years ago: shredding the peace of Europe in the pursuit of territorial imperialism and nationalist bigotry.”

Screenshot: @Ukraine/Twitter.

But don’t try to stop him. Putin means business:

“Anyone who tries to interfere with us, or even more so, to create threats for our country and our people, must know that Russia’s response will be immediate and will lead you to such consequences as you have never before experienced in your history. We are ready for any turn of events.”

In other words, Putin has no fear of Joe Biden.

Putin Wants More Than Just Ukraine

Make no mistake: Vladimir Putin won’t stop at Ukraine, either. He’ll no doubt turn his attention to the Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. In a speech to his countrymen on Monday, Putin declared that “it was a mistake to grant the Republics the right to leave the USSR.” The Baltic states are very nervous right now.

It was really a deranged speech but also strangely counter-productive. Putin has been careful to appeal to the European wishful thinking that the trouble ends with Ukraine, but today he launched a direct attack on the independence for example of the Baltic states

— Bruno Maçães (@MacaesBruno) February 21, 2022

Putin also claimed that the Baltics are “historically Russian.” Sounds eerily familiar, doesn’t it? Sudetenland, anyone?

Not picked up on by much of the UK media was Putin's speech where he mentioned not only the Baltic states as being "historically Russian" but also Finland as being as "part of the Russian family". His ambitions do not end with Ukraine.

— RS Archer (@archer_rs) February 23, 2022

But the Baltic states are also members of NATO, so German and British troops are ready to send more troops into the region. Plus, those three nations, along with Poland, declared that the Russian attack on Ukraine constituted a threat to NATO territory.

The German and British defense ministers announced that they were prepared to send even more troops than planned to NATO units in the Baltic states.https://t.co/gmNMeIOGrG

— DW News (@dwnews) February 22, 2022

Some US troops, along with F-35 fighters will move to bases in the Baltics, too.

VOA: 1,000 US troops based in Italy will deploy to the Baltic states. F-35's currently Germany and Greece will also move to bases there.

— gandalf greybeard (@gerrydogma) February 22, 2022

This situation is looking worse by the hour.

Joe Biden Responds

So how did our lionhearted Commander-in-Chief respond to Putin’s aggression?

Well, he issued a statement. Which you know he didn’t write himself, but was written by his staff. The statement said that “the prayers of the entire world are with the people of Ukraine tonight as they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces.” Oh, and he and Jill are praying for the people of Ukraine, too.

Yet Biden didn’t address the American people from the Oval Office on the evening of the invasion, as presidents have done at a time of crisis. Instead, he’ll talk to the American people on Thursday.

Just-released statement from Biden on Ukraine: pic.twitter.com/n06mTFRHSj

— Byron York (@ByronYork) February 24, 2022

I guess his bedtime was calling, so Joe decided to put a lid on his day.

Putin Smells Biden’s Weakness

Joe Biden didn’t invite Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine. But the wily Russian remembered how in January Biden tacitly approved a “minor incursion” in Ukraine. Then last weekend Joe sent the incompetent Vice President Kamala Harris to Munich to discuss Ukraine and Russia. Instead she offered gobbledygook.

As retired senior US diplomat Nicholas Kass said:

“She (Harris) was talking about NATO as being stronger than ever before, yet at the same time that NATO’s unity was at stake. And subsequently a question was asked, sometimes journalists do ask questions even in this environment, and one journalist asked, ‘How can you square the idea that Putin has already decided to invade with the idea that sanctions are a deterrent?’ And she was unable to answer.”

No, Biden didn’t open the door to Ukraine and invite Putin in. But Biden is weak. He never was the brightest crayon in the Crayola box, either, being blessed with the gift of Blarney rather than brains. Now he’s old, and fumbles with his words, and is completely out of his shallow depths with this crisis. And Putin knows this, and smiles.

To paraphrase Bette Davis: Hold onto your butts. It’s going to be a bumpy ride. 

Featured image: Artwork by Darleen Click.