Ukraine invasion a 'suicidal' decision, would be end of Putin's regime: historian
A Russian-American historian says a full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine would have "tragic" consequences for the Ukrainians, and would lead to the end of Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime.
"The Russian Federation will collapse, believe it or not," Yuri Felshtinsky told CTV News Channel. "In a similar way the Soviet Union collapsed as a result of Soviet invasion of Afghanistan."
Felshtinsky says Putin was unprepared for the Ukrainian resistance and international blowback after annexing the Crimean Peninsula.
The historian says that in 2014, Putin hoped that Ukraine was going to surrender, but "now he knows that this is not going to happen."
The conflict in 2014 hurt Russia with damaging international sanctions that cost "much more than it brought in territorial gains," according to Felshtinsky.
Despite these sanctions and continuing skirmishes by Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists, Felshtinsky warns that Putin won't stop trying to seize more territory or regain control of former Soviet republics.
"There is no way he's going to stop."
The Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the 2008 war with Georgia show that Putin is determined to expand Russia "piece by piece," says Felshtinsky.
He thinks that these actions, and the increasingly militaristic propaganda within Russia, indicate that Putin is getting ready "for a full-scale war."
However, Felshtinsky says open conflict isn't a forgone conclusion yet, and the "unprecedented" military buildup at the Ukrainian border may just be a "bluff" by Putin.
"The best case probably is this is just a bluff."
Watch more by clicking on the video at the top of this article.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Police inaction moves to centre of Uvalde shooting probe
The actions -- or more notably, the inaction -- of a school district police chief and other law enforcement officers has become the centre of the investigation into this week's shocking school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
Putin warns against continued arming of Ukraine; Kremlin claims another city captured
As Russia asserted progress in its goal of seizing the entirety of contested eastern Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin tried to shake European resolve Saturday to punish his country with sanctions and to keep supplying weapons that have supported Ukraine's defence.
Truth tracker: Analyzing the World Economic Forum 'Great Reset' conspiracy theory
The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos was met with justifiable criticisms and unfounded conspiracy theories.
Woman with disabilities approved for medically assisted death relocated thanks to 'inspiring' support
A 31-year-old disabled Toronto woman who was conditionally approved for a medically assisted death after a fruitless bid for safe housing says her life has been 'changed' by an outpouring of support after telling her story.
Calling social conservatives dinosaurs was 'wrong terminology', says Patrick Brown
Federal Conservative leadership candidate Patrick Brown says calling social conservatives 'dinosaurs' in a book he wrote about his time in Ontario politics was 'the wrong terminology.'
She smeared blood on herself and played dead: 11-year-old reveals chilling details of the massacre
An 11-year-old survivor of the Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde, Texas, feared the gunman would come back for her so she smeared herself in her friend's blood and played dead.
Fact check: NRA speakers distort gun and crime statistics
Speakers at the National Rifle Association annual meeting assailed a Chicago gun ban that doesn't exist, ignored security upgrades at the Texas school where children were slaughtered and roundly distorted national gun and crime statistics as they pushed back against any tightening of gun laws.
FBI records on search for fabled gold raise more questions
A scientific analysis commissioned by the FBI shortly before agents went digging for buried treasure suggested that a huge quantity of gold could be below the surface, according to newly released government documents and photos that deepen the mystery of the 2018 excavation in remote western Pennsylvania.
Indiana police disclose cause of death of young boy found in a suitcase. They are still trying to identify him
An unidentified child who was found dead in a suitcase last month in southern Indiana died from electrolyte imbalance, officials said Friday.
Canada
-
Quebec mosque shooter ruling could affect parole eligibility in other high-profile cases
The Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling allowing the Quebec City mosque shooter to be eligible for parole after 25 years is raising concern for more than a dozen similar cases.
-
Supreme Court rules Quebec City mosque killer to be eligible for parole in 25 years
Canada's highest court has ruled that Alexandre Bissonnette, who murdered six people at the Quebec City mosque in 2017, will be eligible for parole after 25 years.
-
Remote parts of rural eastern Ontario could wait weeks for power restoration
A Hydro One spokesperson says some people living in remote parts of rural eastern Ontario could be waiting weeks to have power restored after last Saturday’s devastating and deadly storm.
-
B.C. speedboat driver arrested with 650kg of meth 'feared for his family's safety,' he told U.S. investigators
New details are emerging after a 51-year-old Alberta man was arrested aboard a speedboat that U.S. authorities say was carrying 650 kilograms of methamphetamine between Washington state and British Columbia.
-
Monkeypox in Canada: Act now to stop it, expert urges, before it's too late
With 26 cases of monkeypox now confirmed in Canada, health officials warn that number will likely grow in the coming days and weeks. However, one expert says the outbreak can be stopped if the country works quickly to get it under control.
-
More than 18 hours to find five N.S. mass shooting victims was 'deficient': lawyer
A lawyer for families of victims killed in the Nova Scotia mass shooting says an 18-hour delay in finding five bodies of those murdered is a sign of "deficient" policing.
World
-
A timeline of how the Texas school massacre -- and the police response -- unfolded
As a broken community tries to make sense of a massacre that took the lives of 19 young children and two teachers, authorities have offered shifting timelines of what happened inside the Uvalde, Texas, school.
-
Children among 31 killed at church fair stampede in Nigeria
A stampede Saturday at a church charity event in southern Nigeria left 31 people dead and seven injured, police told The Associated Press, a shocking development at a program that aimed to offer hope to the needy. One witness said the dead included a pregnant woman and many children.
-
Police inaction moves to centre of Uvalde shooting probe
The actions -- or more notably, the inaction -- of a school district police chief and other law enforcement officers has become the centre of the investigation into this week's shocking school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
-
Russia test-fires its latest hypersonic Zircon missile
The Russian navy on Saturday conducted another test of a prospective hypersonic missile, a demonstration of the military's long-range strike capability amid the fighting in Ukraine.
-
Indiana police disclose cause of death of young boy found in a suitcase. They are still trying to identify him
An unidentified child who was found dead in a suitcase last month in southern Indiana died from electrolyte imbalance, officials said Friday.
-
Putin warns against continued arming of Ukraine; Kremlin claims another city captured
As Russia asserted progress in its goal of seizing the entirety of contested eastern Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin tried to shake European resolve Saturday to punish his country with sanctions and to keep supplying weapons that have supported Ukraine's defence.
Politics
-
New federal firearms bill will be introduced on Monday: Lametti
Federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino will table new firearms legislation on Monday, according to his colleague Justice Minister David Lametti. In an interview with CTV's Question Period that will air on Sunday, Lametti pointed to the advance notice given to the House of Commons, and confirmed the plan is to see the new bill unveiled shortly after MPs return to the Commons on May 30.
-
Supreme Court rules Quebec City mosque killer to be eligible for parole in 25 years
Canada's highest court has ruled that Alexandre Bissonnette, who murdered six people at the Quebec City mosque in 2017, will be eligible for parole after 25 years.
-
Calling social conservatives dinosaurs was 'wrong terminology', says Patrick Brown
Federal Conservative leadership candidate Patrick Brown says calling social conservatives 'dinosaurs' in a book he wrote about his time in Ontario politics was 'the wrong terminology.'
Health
-
'Died of a broken heart': Can it really happen?
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, more commonly known as 'broken heart syndrome' or stress-induced cardiomyopathy, is an actual medical condition triggered by severe emotional or physical stress and is different from a heart attack.
-
Monkeypox in Canada: Act now to stop it, expert urges, before it's too late
With 26 cases of monkeypox now confirmed in Canada, health officials warn that number will likely grow in the coming days and weeks. However, one expert says the outbreak can be stopped if the country works quickly to get it under control.
-
Migrant women workers continue to face abortion access barriers: advocates
Migrant women in Canada face profound barriers in accessing health care, especially when it comes to pregnancy. They often hide their pregnancies because if employers find out, they may send them home or refuse to hire them next season.
Sci-Tech
-
Robotic buoys developed to keep Atlantic right whales safe
A Cape Cod science centre and one of the world's largest shipping businesses are collaborating on a project to use robotic buoys to protect a vanishing whale from lethal collisions with ships.
-
Small Vancouver startup believes it's created the solution to plastic pollution
Researchers working in partnership with UBC believe an eco-friendly material could help solve the world’s plastic pollution problem.
-
Broken comet could trigger visible meteor shower Monday
Fragments of a comet broken nearly 30 years ago could potentially light up the night sky Monday as experts predict an 'all or nothing' spectacle.
Entertainment
-
Jury's duty in Depp-Heard trial doesn't track public debate
A seven-person civil jury in Virginia will resume deliberations Tuesday in Johnny Depp's libel trial against Amber Heard. What the jury considers will be very different from the public debate that has engulfed the high-profile proceedings.
-
Indigenous B.C. filmmaker says he was refused entry on Cannes red carpet for his moccasins
A Dene filmmaker based in Vancouver says he was "disappointed" and "close to tears" when security at the Cannes Film Festival blocked him from walking the red carpet while dressed in a pair of moccasins.
-
'I don't deserve this': Amber Heard responds to online hate
As Johnny Depp's high-profile libel lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard wound down, Heard took her final opportunity on the stand to comment on the hate and backlash she’s endured online during the trial.
Business
-
War surges Norway's oil, gas profit. Now, it's urged to help
Europe's frantic search for alternatives to Russian energy has dramatically increased the demand -- and price -- for Norway's oil and gas. As the money pours in, Europe's second-biggest natural gas supplier is fending off accusations that it's profiting from the war in Ukraine.
-
As U.S. mourns shootings, NRA in turmoil but influence remains
The NRA is on the ropes after a series of costly financial scandals and lawsuits. And an ascendant gun control movement has poured tens of millions of dollars into political campaigns to counter their message.
-
Aurora Cannabis shares fall 40 per cent after share sale amendment
Aurora Cannabis Inc.'s share price fell by about 40 per cent, after the company announced it sold US$150 million worth of shares.
Lifestyle
-
'Mom, you gotta carry on': 58-year-old Winnipegger inspired to graduate high school by late son
Fifty-eight-year-old Vivian Ketchum is set to receive her high school diploma at a graduation ceremony at the University of Winnipeg next month. It is a moment that is decades in the making.
-
Crossword-loving grandma who thought she won $5,000 realized her lotto prize was actually a lot larger
A recent lottery winner excitedly told her daughter she was suddenly $5,000 richer. She was wrong.
-
The world's largest bottle of whisky sold for US$1.4 million at auction
The world's largest bottle of whisky, called 'The Intrepid,' has sold for about US$1.4 million, according to the auction house Lyon and Turnbull.
Sports
-
Chelsea takeover imminent after final agreement reached
The sale of Premier League club Chelsea is expected to be completed Monday after a 'final and definitive' agreement was reached with the consortium fronted by Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly.
-
Hockey Canada settles suit over alleged sexual assault involving world junior players
Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League have reportedly settled a lawsuit with a woman who claimed she was sexually assaulted by eight members of the 2018 Canadian world junior hockey team.
-
Winnipeg Blue Bombers release receiver after sexual assault allegation
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers released veteran receiver Jalen Saunders earlier this week after investigating an allegation of sexual assault against him.
Autos
-
Edmunds compares Jeep Grand Wagoneer and Cadillac Escalade
Jeep has come out with a new three-row large SUV, the Grand Wagoneer. It dusts off a nameplate not used since the early 1990s and stands as the brand's most expensive and luxurious model.
-
Going green: IndyCar to use renewable fuel beginning in 2023
IndyCar will become the first North American racing series to use 100 per cent renewable fuel in its race cars.
-
Indy 500 drivers find crypto craze fuels needed sponsorship
At Indy, where culture is traditionally steeped in bricks more than bitcoin, the shift to cryptocurrency sponsorship may still be a curious concept to the almost 300,000 fans who will pack the track Sunday. But inside the paddock -- and locker rooms around the sports world - new forms of digital money help pay the bills and salaries for teams and athletes.
