EN, you are looking through American glasses.  The notion that Russia would face "severe consequences" is inconsistent with the fact that Russia has parity with the US in many ways.  Since the US could not use nukes against population centers except as suicide, conventional options would apply.  Russia has shown every invader defeat and they would again.  It is hard to reset the American bully mentality based on facing powerless third rank nobodies.  It is the US that would face consequences.  It will be very humbling to eat crow, but Americans simply are too comfortable to accept the devastation implicit in fighting a real war with Russia.  Hillary is also blinded by the American experience dealing with nobodies.  The last time the US took on a real power, i.e. China even as only a supplier in Vietnam, we lost.  It will be a sad day when Hillary's hubris leads to the loss of those 5000 on the aircraft carrier, but it will happen when she institutes her no fly zone over Syria.