OK but history shows us many occasions when countries have done both these things - so it's not exactly stretching one's credulity. I think GP's ever so slight

OK but history shows us many occasions when countries have done both these things - so it's not exactly stretching one's credulity. I think GP's ever so slightly overstated things. There is a reason (albeit one that is unjustifiable) and "slaughtering civilians" isn't currently the main activity (which is not to say the current civilian death toll isn't awful). However - Putin's actions are almost completely indefensible on both moral and long-term strategic grounds.