Earlier quoted context omitted.
It depends what you define as win. Its true that russia will find it _very_ difficult to sustain this level of effort for any level of time. Its logistic capacity has been pushed way beyond efficiency. but with that in mind, whos going to push putin out of ukraine? yes the people can pick off soldiers for the next few years, but thats not peace. It is currently within Putin's grasp to freeze the conflict as it is now…
Analysis! Fun. Let's analyze 'em: > 1) stage a dirty bomb, blame it on ukraine, order a general mobilisation. Equivalent to #5. > 2) freeze the conflict now, hold on to the "gains" This would be the smartest move. But it would also signal that Russia admits defeat, which may work against Putin. After all, his goal is to hold on to power. > 3) Assainate Zelenskyy Putin is certainly trying. It may be media exaggeration…
The only quibble I have is that option 1 would allow Russia's allies cover to provide help (assuming they they choose to) even if that fails, it would provide a chance to get the russian population on side.
which is slightly different to 5