Snitz explains why Putin's playing tough

It's been almost four year since Vlad invaded the Ukraine. For most of that time the US Media has trumpeted the same narrative. Russia has bungled the entire operation, will get crushed by Western sanctions all the while praising Ukraine for putting up a brilliant fight. We're told that the war is taking a massive toll on the Russian economy and they're suffering unsustainable war casualites.

So is any of that correct?

Let's start with the war deaths. According to Congress.Gov Russian war deaths to date are over 200,000 with Ukraine's around 150,000. Of course, Russia's population is over 120 million whereas the Ukraine by most estimates has lost over a third of it's population (fled the country) and has only about 30 million people. Ergo Russia can easily continue to pump in warm bodies whereas Ukraine can't. Troop strength currently gives Putin's team a 3 or 4 to one advantage.

Let' examine the economic side of this conflict. Since the start of the war, Russian energy supplies to the EU has dropped over 80%. That's caused the cost of oil and natural gas to skyrocket, helping plunge the continent into a recession. Russia? They have essentially substituted China and especially India to pick up the slack.

And the Russian stock market ravaged by the invasion? Nope. It sits an it's pre pandemic high.

Do what's Vlad's game? Initially I suspect it was simply to gain occupancy of the Donbas region which housed most of Ukraine's oil and rare earth minerals plus Russian speaking/leaning population. Ergo a friendly place to rule, creating a security barrier. But as the war has grinded on, Putin continues to grab more land and the prospect of installing a pro Russian Gov (similiar to what existed prior to 2014) is looking good.

Will Trump be able to convince Vlad to wind this thing up? If Russia gets the entire Donbas, assurances that Ukraine will not join the European Union or NATO and the allies remove all hypersonic missiles pointed at Mother Russia perhaps! Otherwise Vlad has all the time in the world, and needs not run for re-election.