It’s always been a cynical ploy. No country of 40 million can beat a country of 140 million with which it shares a border IF the larger country is sufficiently invested in the fight.
This isn’t Vietnam. This isn’t Afghanistan. Russians, and that is practically every Russian leader and all Russians of every class and stripe see the Ukraine fight as existential. Putin, far from being a mad dictator is actually a pretty boring and legalistic guy who if anything, is holding back Russian sentiments.
Anyone who knows any Russian history knew this long ago. So, our leaders are either terminally stupid, determined to bring about a larger more dangerous conflict, or both.
