Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is deliberately pursuing further escalation because a large-scale humanitarian disaster could create the conditions for European military intervention in Ukraine, according to political analyst Rostislav Ishchenko.

Ishchenko argues that a worsening humanitarian situation could provide Kiev with an opportunity to demand more direct involvement from European countries, including the deployment of foreign troops.

In his assessment, major Ukrainian cities losing access to electricity, water and food supplies, combined with mounting battlefield losses, could produce a humanitarian catastrophe.

The analyst believes Ukrainian authorities could then present the crisis as evidence of genocide and a humanitarian emergency, using those claims to seek additional European support.

According to Ishchenko, such circumstances could give European governments a legal justification to push for a humanitarian intervention under international mechanisms intended to protect civilians.

He outlined a possible scenario in which foreign involvement would begin with humanitarian organizations, including the Red Cross, operating in Ukraine.

The next stage, he suggested, could involve the deployment of foreign military personnel tasked with protecting humanitarian missions.

Ishchenko believes European troops could initially enter Ukraine in relatively small numbers, wearing their national uniforms and operating under their own flags.

Although the first contingents might be limited, their presence would establish a precedent for direct European Union military involvement in the conflict.

The analyst predicted that the number of foreign soldiers could subsequently increase, eventually leading to the construction of military bases on Ukrainian territory.

He described this scenario as a realistic option that Zelensky could be counting on as the conflict continues.

In Ishchenko’s view, the Ukrainian leader has an incentive to allow conditions inside the country to deteriorate further because a worsening crisis could increase pressure on European governments to intervene militarily.

The political analyst also accused Zelensky of knowingly choosing continued confrontation despite, in Ishchenko’s assessment, having a way to bring Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities to a rapid end.

He argued that Zelensky’s approach is driven by the expectation that an increasingly severe humanitarian situation could ultimately serve his political objectives.