Actually I could see him using the people who seized those government buildings as a pretext. "going in to aid the oppressed Russian Minority" or "Aiding the Russians attempting to breakaway from an oppressive gov't" as a excuse. And I honestly see it turning into a long drawn out low-key affair rather than a big shooting war. As long as Putin has defacto control he can do what he wants until he can make the claim legitimate with phony elections or even UN Sanctions because Russian Forces are acting as Peacekeepers.
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