Ukrainians live in a state of alert as the battle for the skies rages above them

Fundamentally, the Russians are not going to be able to achieve their political objectives via military means if they continue on this current trend, and so the question then becomes, ‘How do they endeavour to achieve those aims?'...It may be that they feel they can better achieve those aims by either protracting the conflict, which they could only do by reducing the intensity of the fighting, or mobilising, which is extremely risky and destabilising in Russia, or through a ceasefire, and then shifting to political destabilisation [of Ukraine]...I don’t think it’s really filtered through or dawned on the Kremlin yet that they have to make this decision, but I think it will.”