Putins and special military operations support polls are mid 80s according to polls down in Russia and taken by outside firms like Pew
Putin will likely take heat if he doesn’t win significant concessions in Peace deal
Ukraine same thing if they give up too much after such casualties
It’s unlikely both sides will be happy at same time
It’s like a bad biz deal
The least unhappiness you can accept to get out of it
[About the “Ukrainian victories:”]
“Soldiers in the past week portrayed the battlefield losses as “high” and “massive.” They described large offensives in which Ukrainian tanks and vehicles tried to cross open fields only to be pounded mercilessly by Russian artillery and mines”
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/24/world/europe/ukraine-south-kherson-russia.html