Possibly inexorable, but not so devastating as it now got thanks in no small part not only to Putin's smug stubbornness, but also to Zelensky's (and his backers') desire to keep the collision course(s) as long as possible. Look at Georgia: in 2008, it obtained a good (so far) vaccination against further attempts to bark at the colossus' feet. These feet may be of clay, as the initial phase (before the enhanced mobilization and massive purges in the high military ranks of thieves) of Russian invasion of Ukraine demonstrated.

Though clay quickly hardens when heated aggressively, and Russia's heart is not of clay in any case, yet, withal, of claymore.