Ritter gave Z a possible excuse, saying the missile could have been launched without his order, by underlings trying to cause trouble, apparently.
The Russians collaborating with the Nazis to dismember Poland is what started WWII. Russia was the aggressor then and is the aggressor now. They were fine with Hitler overrunning Europe until Hitler turned his sights on Moscow.Then the communists who surrounded Roosevelt dragged us into the war in order to save Russia and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
As for who is winning this current war it clearly is not Russia at this point. They may be able to wreck Ukraine’s infrastructure and cause extreme harm yo Europe’s economy but they are losing on the battle field and their own economy is a shambles from which it will not soon recover. Can Putin maintain power? Maybe or maybe not. I think something will give pretty soon.