> After being potentially devastated by the sanctions and embarassed by the world, there are no guarantees that anyone taking over from Putin would be more reas

> After being potentially devastated by the sanctions and embarassed by the world, there are no guarantees that anyone taking over from Putin would be more reasonable, less nationalistic, or less likely to utilize nuclear strikes. More chaos and instability in Russia after a Putin exit could backfire with a random cast of characters gaining power. A risky roll of your favorite multi-sided dice. It's also worth noting a Putin victory won't necessarily lead to some kind of stability. For a brief time Ukraine had nukes, but gave them up. The lesson of this invasion to every medium-size power next to a giant will be: if you value your independence, get nukes, and don't give them up.