Putin is enough of a chess player to know the difference between the Ukraine (non-NATO member) and Poland (NATO member), more so than Hitler who did not know the difference between Czechoslovakia and Poland.
The real threat to Europe is not from Russia invading, it is from the Muslims subverting Europe from within.
These guys keep wanting us to believe that Putin is crazy and that we submit to his desires or he invades the West, or if you point out that he doesn’t have the muscle for that, then they claim that he will nuke us all if we don’t end sanctions, or try to interfere at all with his empire building.
Russia is between 14% and 18% Muslim, and located in a bad place, with china encroaching, and secession forces internally, they have their hands full. That is why Putin is always bluffing and guffing, he doesn’t have much to work with.