The U.S. and some of its allies have ratcheted up military assistance to Ukraine as it increasingly views the war as an opportunity to constrain Russia’s ability to pursue imperial ambitions.

In response, the Kremlin has begun priming its population for the possibility of a wider and more intractable conflict. In particular, it is using the May 9 celebrations commemorating the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, a historical touchstone for millions of Russians, to draw parallels between World War II and the conflict in Ukraine.

The narrative of Russia as the victim of the West and the need to defend the country has gained new momentum in recent weeks.

“The forces that have always pursued a policy of containing Russia…they do not want such a huge and independent country that is too big for their ideas,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week. “They believe it endangers them simply by the fact of its existence, although this is far from reality. It is they who endanger the world.”

If any other country intervenes in the events “and creates strategic threats for Russia that are unacceptable to us, they should know that our retaliatory strikes will be lightning-fast,” he said, repeating a past warning. Russia has “all the tools for this, such that no one [else] can boast of,” he said. “We will use them if necessary.”

State media have gone into overdrive with prominent news anchors, pundits and talk-show hosts warning of the dire consequences of a loss in Ukraine.

“I think World War III is more realistic, knowing us, knowing our leader Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin,” said Margarita Simonyan, head of the Russian state-controlled international television network RT, during an appearance Tuesday on the program of the pro-Kremlin talk-show host Vladimir Soloviev.

“There’s no chance at all that we would simply roll over and say, ‘Oh, you know, it didn’t work out,’ ” she added. “The most incredible thing is that, in the end, all this will end in a nuclear strike.”

Mr. Soloviev replied, “But we will go to heaven, and they will simply croak,” echoing a past remark by Mr. Putin.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Friday: “You have a nation the size of Russia with a nuclear arsenal their size and capability and a leader that is clearly as belligerent as Vladimir Putin, we have to take seriously the escalatory rhetoric that he and his leaders have been using lately.” He added, “It would be—as irresponsible as it is for him to use that rhetoric, it would be equally irresponsible for us not to take it seriously. And so we do.”

Before the war, Mr. Putin depicted Western military and economic support for Ukraine as a direct threat to Russia. Since then, moves by Western officials have strengthened the Kremlin’s view that they are using Ukraine to weaken Russia, some Russian analysts said….

Over the years, Mr. Putin has tried to harness the wave of patriotism connected to the Great Patriotic War, as World War II is commonly known in Russia, to bolster his position and rally the country….

State media has also been playing on a popular perception in Russia that Ukraine is under the yoke of corrupt and inept leadership….

The Russian Defense Ministry says 1,351 soldiers had been killed in the conflict as of March 25. The U.K. estimates that 15,000 Russian soldiers have died so far….

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(Excerpt from The Wall Street Journal. Photo Credit: Getty Images)