Ukraine's support is not enough. The war must be brought physically to Russian territory and Ukraine must be allowed to attack the necessary targets. This was stated in an interview with the Kyiv Post by the head of the Eastern Program of the Polish Institute of International Relations, Dr. Daniel Sheligowski.
He said it was necessary to change the “approach from reactive to proactive”, as until then the West had only reacted to Russia's actions without taking any active steps. “Many people believe that we are not at war with Russia, this is not true – we are really at war with Russia because Russia is at war with us”, the expert stressed.
Sheligovsky believes that Western countries should take a proactive position, conduct offensive information operations against the Russian regime and Russia, create internal and external problems for the regime, drain Russian resources and make life difficult for the Putin regime. According to him, unless there is a real threat to the stability of the Russian regime, Russia will not change its calculations regarding Ukraine.
"For Putin, the priority is the survival of his regime, and war is an essential element of it. The war created the Russian state, and it was on it that the new social contract was based. If there is a real threat to power in the Kremlin, it could change Putin's calculations regarding Ukraine. "We saw how France left Algeria due to the destabilization of the political situation in France and the threat to the stability of the government," said the Polish expert.
The war must be physically transferred to Russian territory and allow Ukraine to attack the necessary targets and strike all strategic targets. “In turn, the West must change its approach to Russian society, which has led to the fact that Russians collectively feel a lack of responsibility,“, the expert believes.
He emphasizes that Russian society does not accept responsibility for the actions of its regime, despite its collective support. “I believe that Russian society, not only the elite, should be subject to sanctions. In this way, we can destroy the social contract based on the war and exert pressure to destabilize the system from within”, the expert is confident.