Russia invaded Ukraine a week ago. What comes next?

Russia’s assault on Ukraine is just a week old, but its consequences have already been catastrophic.

In the seven days since Russian troops invaded their western neighbor, hundreds of people have been reported dead and one million have fled for their lives. Energy prices are skyrocketing and food prices could be next.

No one can say for sure what will happen in the coming days and weeks, but years of relative peace and stability in Europe have already been ruptured, and should the fighting stretch on for months, the crisis could have even greater ramifications.

What happens to Kyiv?

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been very clear about his basic goals in invading: He wants to disarm Ukraine, sever its ties to the NATO military alliance and end the Ukrainian people’s aspirations of joining the West.

Along with part of the convoy, smoke can be seen rising from what appears to be burning homes, northwest of Invankiv, Ukraine.

Here's what we know about the 40-mile-long Russian convoy outside Ukraine's capital

He has also said he wants to rid the country of what he calls the “gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis that has settled in Kyiv and taken hostage the entire Ukrainian people,” a baseless and highly-charged reference to Ukraine’s democratically-elected government and its Jewish president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russian forces are encircling the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in an apparent push to topple the government, and a 40-mile-long military convoy is edging toward the city, which has been targeted by multiple rocket and missile attacks in recent days.

Zelensky has vowed to keep fighting, but he is under no illusions that Putin’s forces “want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state.”

Should those forces take the capital, Ukraine does have other politicians who might be eager to fill the ranks of a pro-Russian puppet regime.

One of Putin’s top allies in Ukraine is Viktor Medvedchuk, a prominent politician and oligarch. He faces allegations of treason in Ukraine and has been under house arrest, but his exact whereabouts are unclear.

Cars burn after a Russian military strike in central Kyiv, Ukraine, on October 10. At least 19 people were killed and more than 100 injured in Russian missile strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities on Monday as Moscow targeted critical energy infrastructure.

A fireman helps an injured civilian after several explosions hit the Shevchenkivskyi district of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on October 10.

Firefighters conduct work on a damaged building after a Russian missile attack in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on October 10.

A huge blast severely damaged the only bridge connecting annexed Crimea to the Russian mainland on October 8. At least three people were killed in the explosion, which caused parts of Europe's longest bridge to collapse, according to Russian officials.

Ukrainian soldiers ride on an armored vehicle near the recently retaken town of Lyman in Donetsk region on October 6, as the Ukrainian military continues to advance into several of the areas Russia now claims as its own.

Ukrainian firefighters attend to the site of a missile strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on October 6.

Ukrainian soldiers prepare to fire a BM-21 'Grad' multiple rocket launcher towards Russian positions in the Kharkiv region on October 4.

Ukrainian servicemen carry a body bag at the site of a missile strike on a convoy of civilian cars that killed at least 30 people near Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on September 30.

Head of the separatist self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin, left, and Secretary of the United Russia Party's General Council Andrey Turchak attend a news conference on preliminary results of a referendum on the joining of the DPR to Russia, in Donetsk, Ukraine, on September 27.

Anton Krasyvyi rows passengers across the Siverskyi-Donets river in front of a destroyed bridge, so they can visit relatives in Staryi-Saltiv, Ukraine, on September 27.

People wait for food aid distributed by the local branch of Caritas Internationalis, a Catholic charity organisation, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on September 27.

A man glues a referendum poster reading "Yes" in Berdyansk, Ukraine, on September 26. Russia is attempting to annex up to 18% of Ukrainian territory, with President Vladimir Putin expected to host a ceremony in the Kremlin to declare four occupied Ukrainian territories part of Russia.

Forensic technicians operate at the site of a mass grave in a forest on the outskirts of Izyum, eastern Ukraine on September 18. Ukrainian authorities discovered hundreds of graves outside the formerly Russian-occupied city.

Ukrainian State Emergency Service firefighters put out a fire after a Russian rocket attack hit an electric power station in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on September 11.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, speaks to the press at his hotel before leaving to inspect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on September 1.

Graves of fallen soldiers in Lychakiv Cemetery, Lviv, as Ukrainians celebrate Independence Day, and mark the six month anniversary of the Russian invasion, on August 24.

Rockets launched from the Belgorod region in Russia are seen at dawn in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on August 15.

Valentyna Kondratieva, 75, left, is comforted by a neighbor as they stand outside her damaged home, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on August 13, after a rocket attack.

The bulk carrier NAVI STAR, transporting a cargo of corn, is seen leaving port of Odesa, Ukraine, on August 5.

A young girl holds her dog as an evacuation train departs from Pokrovsk, eastern Ukraine, on August 2.

Ukrainian State Emergency Service firefighters attend to a fire at an oil depot in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on August 2.

A firefighter extinguishes a burning hospital building hit by a Russian missile strike in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on August 1.

Russian tanks near the settlement of Olenivka in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on July 29.

Students at a military school write letters to Ukrainian servicemen during a lesson in Kyiv, Ukraine, on July 27.

Firefighters rest as their colleagues remove debris during the search for bodies at the Central House of Culture, in Chuhuiv, Ukraine, after an air strike on July 25.

A man holds the hand of his 13 year-old son, killed by a Russian military strike, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on July 20.

Ukrainian service members fire a shell from a towed howitzer FH-70 at the front line in the Donbas region, Ukraine, on July 18.

Firefighters and members of a rescue team clear the scene after a building was shelled in Chasiv Yar, eastern Ukraine, on July 10. At least 29 people have been confirmed dead.

Local residents look on as smoke rises after shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine, on July 7.

A wounded woman is transported to an ambulance in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on July 7.

A farmer drives a combine harvester past a crater suspected to be caused by an air strike near Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on July 7.

A Ukrainian soldier with the 14th Mechanized Brigade of Prince Roman the Great works in his tank as the unit awaits their next mission on July 1.

An aerial view of rescue workers after a missile attack in the Serhiivka district of Odesa, Ukraine, on July 1.

People attend a funeral ceremony for Ukrainian serviceman Volodymyr Kochetov, 46, in the village of Babyntsi, Ukraine, on June 30.

Firefighters clear rubble at the Amstor shopping mall in Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast, Ukraine, on June 28.

Ukrainian State Emergency Service firefighters work to take away debris at a shopping mall after a rocket attack in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, on June 28.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky attends a working session of G7 leaders via video link from his office in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday June 27.

An apartment building in the Shevchenkivskiy district of Kyiv, Ukraine, is damaged during a Russian airstrike, on June 26. Several explosions rocked the west of the Ukrainian capital in the early hours of Sunday morning, with at least two residential buildings struck, according to Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Ukrainian service members patrol an area in the city of Severodonetsk, Ukraine, on June 20.

People light flares in memory of the Ukrainian activist Roman Ratushnyi during a farewell ceremony at Baikove cemetery, Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 18.

Oleksiy Chernyshov, Ukrainian President Zelensky's special envoy for EU accession, walks with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian PM Mario Draghi past destroyed buildings in Irpin, Ukraine, on June 16.

Young people swing in front of destroyed residential buildings in Borodyanka, Ukraine, on June 15.

A Ukrainian bomb disposal expert looks at an ordnance shell during a mine clearance operation in Solonytsivka, near Kharkiv, Ukraine, on June 15.

Ukrainian servicemen fire a French 155mm CAESAR self-propelled howitzer towards Russian positions in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on June 15.

A forensic technician inspects a mass grave near the village of Vorzel in the Bucha district near Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 13.

Russian servicemen guard an area of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine, on June 13.

Local residents walk along an empty street as smoke rises in the background in the town of Lysychansk, Ukraine, on June 10.

A Ukrainian soldier takes cover during heavy fighting at the front line in Severodonetsk, Ukraine, on Wednesday, June 8.

Ukrainian troops fire surface-to-surface rockets from MLRS towards Russian positions at the front line in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on June 7.