U.S. expert cites 'weird military blunders' in Russian invasion

STORY: In his interview with Reuters on Monday, John Spencer, the Chair of Urban Warfare Studies with the Modern War Institute at West Point, said Russian President Vladimir Putin underestimated the resistance his troops would face in Ukraine. Spencer painted an even more difficult scenario if and when Russians were to attempt to take the capital city of Kyiv.

"If we get to that phase I think it'll immediately transition to an [Ukrainian] insurgency," Spencer said. "I think the world will continue to support that insurgency," he said.

Russia faces economic turmoil as Western nations, united in condemnation of its assault, hit it with sanctions that rippled around the world and whose targets include President Vladimir Putin and his confidants.

The European Union placed new sanctions on Russian oligarchs and officials and some of its members urged the bloc to begin talks on Ukrainian accession. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed a letter formally requesting EU membership, an emphatic statement of commitment to Western values.

But Putin showed no sign of reconsidering the invasion he unleashed on Russia's neighbor last Thursday in an attempt to pull it firmly back under Moscow's influence and redraw Europe's security map.