[Reporter] To see one reason Ukraine is doing better than expected have a close-up look at just
one weapon its military has deployed the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones.
NATO has previously used these drones to great effect against Russian-backed forces in Syria.
The Ukrainians bought dozens of them and have reportedly
been using them against Russian military vehicles.
Ukraine is being very secretive about the exact number of drones they have
former Ukrainian defence minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk is in Kyiv.
I cannot say how many because they are still still being supplied
and obviously during the war time, armed forces are not disclosing the exact numbers, never.
It has a very substantial charge so it pretty much can destroy any equipment which Russians have.
[Reporter] Western countries have provided the Ukrainian forces
with hundreds of stinger and other anti-aircraft missiles
Those missiles have been very effective against Russian helicopters like this one
and other low-flying aircraft.
They are less effective against high-flying Russian fighter jets
But some of those have been brought down as well.
The Ukrainians have also used Western supplied
Javelin and other anti-tank missiles to target Russian armoured vehicles.
Many Russian tanks get stuck in the mud when they try to get off roadways to escape being hit.
All of that has slowed the Russian advance and Putin's plan to quickly take Ukraine cities
and decapitate the government.
That might not all be good news, according to retired Canadian General Lewis McKenzie
There's a downside to that, there's a saying in the Russian military
never send a soldier where an artillery round can go first
And they'll start using their heavy artillery, their rocket launchers, their missiles
and they will devastate locations where there's some resistance
[Reporter} Russian artillery strikes are now killing thousands of Ukrainians
shelling apartment buildings, hospitals and schools.
As civilian casualties pile up, public pressure increases
on leaders of NATO countries to do something to stop it.
Retired American General Philip Breedlove was a NATO supreme allied commander in Europe
How long will the West watch Ukraine fight alone, if we continue
to have hospitals bombed out and people crushed in them and I think that's the question
Rick Hillier was Canada's top general as chief of defence staff.
NATO does have an overwhelming capability and they could stop the Russian steamroller
that's moving into the Ukraine.
[Reporter] As civilians are slaughtered in the cities of Ukraine
the Zelensky government has pleaded with NATO countries to establish a no-fly zone
over the entire country. NATO countries have refused to do that because it could lead
to a direct confrontation with Russian aircraft and potentially World War Three.
I'm not interested in a shooting war with Russia, nobody wants to go there
but if we say hey we're going to protect all those refugees that are heading west all those desperate
people i think we could do a protection a no-fly zone over those humanitarian routes and help them
get out of Ukraine. If we're just going to stand by and and let this kind of a disaster unfold
it surely does not speak well of us in the West.
I've changed my mind over the last week or so, that the way this thing is turning out
this conflict is turning out, then yes no-fly zone I would endorse a no-fly zone
Like John McCain said when you define a no-fly zone if you fly you die
so that means anybody we encounter, we the good guys encounter, they're going to be shot down.
[Reporter] The principal objection to increased NATO involvement is the possibility of nuclear war
Putin has ordered his nuclear forces onto high alert
and Russian military doctrine has long envisioned the use of nuclear weapons.
The message I think Mr. Putin is trying to send is
he understands that he can never stand against a fully generated NATO
and so he wants everybody to understand that you know if we start losing we will use nukes.
[Reporter] Faced with Putin's nuclear threats there is a surprising consensus among senior generals
we consulted that NATO should call his bluff
It's not a threat that we have to back off as a result of not doing the right thing
because we believe the threat. That's just caving in and it's going to happen every time
in the next country that he might want to occupy.
Putin wants one thing out of this, he wants to succeed
but more importantly he wants to survive and so if he knows that if he throws a nuke somewhere
even a tactical nuke if there is such a thing he's going to have a tough problem surviving and
that's not what he's going to want to do and he can't keep using that threat to the West.
[Reporter] There's growing support for NATO to stand up to Putin now because
the Russian leader has made clear in his published demands that he is already
looking beyond Ukraine to his next intended targets.
Ukraine is an important goal and we need to be focused on the suffering of the Ukrainian people
but if you read those documents Mr. Putin's eyes are set on rewriting the security architecture
of Eastern Europe. Essentially he wants to rebuild the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union.
[Reporter] In anticipation of a war that could spread to other countries
this pro-Putin military analyst appeared on Russian TV in the days leading up to the Ukrainian invasion.
He insisted that Russia could attack the Baltic States and easily
wipe out the NATO forces there.
He specifically mentioned the Canadian troops now assigned to the defence of Latvia.
In recent days Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Latvia
and announced the extension of Canada's military mission there
Thank you so much for being here.
[Reporter] But like all NATO leaders, he remains opposed to a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
The public reaction seems less cautious a recent poll showed 74 per cent of Americans
now support a no-fly zone.
What did we say after the Holocaust? Never again.
what did we say after Srebenica and other places?
In two years, hopefully in two years this has come to some resolution
and we look back in what we did will we say again never again
and lament our action?
[Reporter] As Russia steps up its attacks on civilians, even shelling apartment blocks with tank fire
the question is whether increasing public pressure in the West will lead to more NATO involvement.
Terence McKenna, CBC News. Toronto.