The worst position to be in. A minor figure whose life isn't worth a war, wanted dead by Putin. I can't see how you guard against that. That will ruin your soul and sap your energy even if you do continually fend it off.
Why? Because if becoming mayor means that you’re likely to be assassinated, then your country will be sapped of all political talent overnight. You can’t let a foreign nation hold your internal affairs hostage, much less with violence.
What exactly would count as a proportionate response is beyond my level of creativity, and is left as an exercise to the reader.
Russia conducted acts of war on NATO soil multiple times. An equivalent response is warranted.
Crimea comes to mind.
This is the point I was refuting.
If you want to nullify the whatever little political capital Russian political establishment has left, there is no better target.
See how they (putinists) spin it: they say to Russians that all hardships you endure will be rewarded with a glorious military victory, and greatness.
Seeing Russia return to back muddied waters of nineties, when Chechen, and Tojikistan wars were on the news 24/7 will annihilate what little support they have from the population and elites.
The West needs to show Russians that their conscripts will be dying for nothing.
It would have helped your argument if it was factually correct.
The entire calculus of people in Kremlin is made on the idea that they know where the West will chicken out, and attack there.
This attack was a direct result of West allowing Russia to slowly eroding its bottom line.
It is the famous saying "First they came for..." except here we talk about fates of entire countries, and nations.