« Putin has done something far worse for his country than initiating an unwon and unwinnable war: He has compelled Europe to organize itself as a military counterweight to Russia. Germany is rapidly rearming; new patterns of military consultation and cooperation are spreading across Europe; Finland and Sweden have joined NATO; and Brexit has been sidelined by a meaningful security agreement between Britain and the European Union. Formidable resources are being gathered to keep Russia out of Europe. Russia’s only path to a future partnership with Europe is to end the war on Ukrainian terms, which Mr. Putin will not do. »
— Historian Michael Kimmage at the New York Times.
There are still people who consider Putin to be a powerful genius – including one celebrity who considers himself to be a "stable genius".
But few people have harmed Russia more than Vladimir Putin in the past 80 years. And the only people who are responsible for more deaths of Russians than Putin since World War I are Joseph Stalin and Adolph Hitler. Putin is not a Russian success story – except when it comes to lining his own pockets.
Those who claim that Ukraine can't win simply don't understand the extent and sophistication of Ukraine's defense and tech industries.
This is from Foreign Policy (archived)...
The new ace in the hole is Ukraine’s superlative defense sector, which has blossomed into one of Europe’s most ingenuous and advanced arms industries—and produces much of what its military requires (including roughly 40 percent of all weaponry) at a fraction of the cost and twice as fast. For every billion that the United States has paid out to its own industry, the Europeans can get several times as much from the Ukrainians—and without the same transfer headaches and costs. In addition to its hailed drone production, Ukraine reports that it produces more howitzers and artillery systems than all of Europe combined. The Ukrainians know exactly what they need and are constantly tweaking their hardware to conditions on the battlefield.
Putin picked the wrong country to bully. Ukraine has the tenacity and resolve to go along with its defense production. After the war Ukraine could become the European economic equivalent of South Korea while Russia stagnates like North Korea.
