It's time to up the stakes against Putin

The terrible thing about war is that after a time a sort of malaise digs in. Not among the Ukrainian people and their soldiers of course. For them the war is totally terrifying and constant. But for us looking in, the statistics are so grim every day that they are no longer shocking or surprising. For example, the Kyiv government now says that Putin's missiles have destroyed 50 per cent of the country's electricity supply. How can Putin just be allowed to carry on with this obliteration of Ukraine's energy infrastructure without being punished by the international community? Why is the world not rising up in anger? The Ukrainian forces are fighting back and trying to shoot down the missiles as they hurtle over the Russian border but many are still getting through. It is time for the Nato alliance to stop this daily destruction and for the world, including China, to condemn Putin. Something has to be done to prevent Putin from wrecking the whole of Ukraine's critical infrastructure. He is getting away with it, even boasting about it. He should be warned that if he continues with these daily missile strikes, the US-led Nato alliance will provide every long-range weapon system Kyiv needs to launch counter-strikes against multiple targets inside Russia and Russian-occupied Crimea. Then perhaps Putin will be forced to calculate whether it is still worth his while to try and destroy Ukraine. There is a danger he might further escalate the war to hit back against Nato allies in eastern Europe but I seriously doubt he would take this risk. Multiple hits inside Russia might just persuade him to call a halt to the missile strikes and start thinking of a way to end the war. It's only a small chance but it's time to up the stakes against Putin.