May be the best fake story of the day.
If Russia wanted to break the place....they could do it in a day......
“If Russia wanted to break the place....they could do it in a day...”
The territory of Ukraine was never the final objective - Putin really wants to force NATO into an untenable position in regards to further expansion of members. While it would be “nice” to be able to exploit the Ukraine resources, the Ukrainians are a very fractious people, and occupying the territory would be as much a disaster for the Russian Federation as the occupation of Afghanistan was for the Soviet Union.
The game might not be worth the time, treasure and military assets that would have to be expended to effectively control the Ukraine.
It is what we are told... over and over and over.
There are two possibilities.
One, is Russia is very restrained in its operations.
Two is Russian power has been vastly overestimated.
It is possible for both to be in play.
It maybe they are restrained, and have far less actual combat power than we have been told.
Those may form a feedback loop, creating a Russian disaster.
Restraint may have been used long enough to create a powerful resistance, which has broken the Russian ability to move fuel and ammunition, effectively and significantly reducing their combat power.