There's an unfortunately tendency in the West to misunderstand the nature of a dictatorship. This leads to many errors and unrealistic assumptions. Moreover, when even basic facts are misrepresented, we can have little confidence in the opinions of the author. In this article, the author claims that "10-15 percent of Russians have left the country since Putin's... invasion." As Russia has a population of approximately 149,000,000 people, this would imply at at least 15 million have left in the last few months. In reality, fewer than one million have left - mostly the young aspirational types Putin cares nothing for. Most Russians today have swallowed Kremlin lies and reluctantly support the carnage in Ukraine. Even conscripts who know they are nothing but cannon fodder still fight with whatever weapons they are given, because that's what ordinary people always do: obey authority.

Moreover, the West remains spineless and vacillating, giving Ukraine only minimal offensive capability lest Putin's endless empty bluster about nuclear weapons frightens gullible Western voters. As Putin has mobilized around 350,000 warm bodies and plans to mobilize a million more in the next few weeks, it's obvious that Ukraine's capacity to repel endless waves of human sacrifices will be overwhelmed and that despite all the Russian military's obvious inadequacies, Ukraine will not stand against the horde that will flood into its lands.

Meanwhile, the neofascist US Republican Party and the timorous Rishi Sunak in the UK will deny Ukraine even the modest help it's received so far, further weakening its capacity for resistance.

So in the end, Putin - despite all the setbacks and humiliations - may well end up with what he always wanted: a conquered Ukraine ruled by a puppet regime that does his bidding.