Putin has overplayed his hand. He could have taken the eastern cities without much of a fight. He stupidly attacked Kyiv which has only hardened Ukrainian resistance.
Putin didn’t expect the Ukrainians to fight this hard and misjudged the morale of his army. I expect he’s planning on the EU bullying Ukraine into surrender. That’s what happened in 2014. If Putin was so brilliant he wouldn’t have to use his army on Ukraine. He’s a thug and dumb one at that.
One thing I hope comes out of this is in Belarus where the people there will finally rise up and give Lukashenko the Mussolini Treatment he thoroughly deserves.