At the time of this writing, Russian forces have reached the outskirts of the capital city Kyiv.
It seems that former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is a patriot. He is on the front lines, talking about rifles, which one he will be using and their lack of enough rifles for the number of volunteers who wish to battle the Russians as they march on Kyiv. He will soon have to start shooting.
Considering that he, nor any of his compatriots
No artillary, no tanks, no armed personnel carriers, he sits with 300 of the territorial defense. Ukraine gave its nuclear weapons back to Russia long ago with the assurances that the U.S. and Europe would see to their defense.
It looks bleack for Kyiv. The city will likely fall.
The Ukrainian military has not fought since World War II, and internally against insurgents in the 1950’s as part of the Soviet Bloc. Certainly none of its military units contain seasoned veterans who can take on batte hardened Spetnaz, which likely see combat regularly.
Citizens have been fleeing Kyiv for days. It is likely that commerce to the city will stop and people remaining will be at risk of starving. Certainly Russia will not help, since Biden’s sanctions will make it tough for the Russian people as well, which will be Putin’s first priority.
On the other hand, Latvia and Lithuania just sent Ukraine some Stinger missiles (we don’t know how many…). If someone in NATO or the Biden Administration was smart (oh god…), then Stingers and TOW anti-tank missiles are in the hands of soldiers trained in guerilla tactics. Perhaps these 300 are only a small part of the 100,000 strong Ukrainian military positioned around the city.
With good tactics, Ukraine may be able to keep things unstable for many days. Then, if they have good leadership, they will scattered across the country and become the guerilla force, which is the only way to eventually win against the Russians.
Current President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is between a rock and a hard place. Russia needs to capture him, and if they do, they will put him on trial for a great many fabricated crimes, for which he will be found guilty. If he leaves the city before it falls, he will lose face as a leader, his troops will lose morale, and he will be a President in exile. The Russians will appoint a new President, and he will be trial and convicted of crimes anyway.