One source said Putin believes ending the war without capturing at least all of Donbas could threaten his survival. “They will hang me,” he reportedly told people close to him.
So this isn’t him saying “I think we’re gonna lose the war and I’ll get hanged” it’s more “if I don’t completely win the war I may get hanged”
There’s no indication that he thinks they’re going to be defeated. I think he recognizes that at worst this will result in a pyrrhic victory and they walk away with a large chunk of Ukraine, not Ukraine defeating them and driving the Russians back out.
Yeah. It does show where the political motivations are currently in the war and why it isn’t going to be over any time soon. There is no politically acceptable end to the war for either side, so the war of attrition continues.
The actual quote:
So this isn’t him saying “I think we’re gonna lose the war and I’ll get hanged” it’s more “if I don’t completely win the war I may get hanged”
There’s no indication that he thinks they’re going to be defeated. I think he recognizes that at worst this will result in a pyrrhic victory and they walk away with a large chunk of Ukraine, not Ukraine defeating them and driving the Russians back out.
They won’t be easily walking away from 1000s of drones.
Yeah. It does show where the political motivations are currently in the war and why it isn’t going to be over any time soon. There is no politically acceptable end to the war for either side, so the war of attrition continues.