It's why I imagine the Russian government has been trying to frame this as "self-defense" to its own people, when it's clearly the opposite.
They know that people will go to extreme lengths to fight when they believe they're fighting defensively, for their own people, sovereignty, safety, etc. To that end, it won't matter if they can realistically defeat NATO- they just want their own people to die trying.
Oh that's one hell of a one-liner, I like it!