That portion of land wasn’t won for free they lost a lot of troops, vehicles and aircraft and even a handful of boats to do that.
They are also losing it slowly piece by piece.
They are also losing it slowly piece by piece.
Sure, but it's war, right? Why would someone assume it was going to be easy/free?
He was wrong.
>He was wrong.
And yet, he got 18% of Ukraine's land. Doesn't sound like a loss ...
Sure. And is that why they expected a quick victory, only to find their convoy going nowhere and no victory in sight:
https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-invasion-ukraine-intelligence...
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-intelligence-says-russia...
https://ig.ft.com/russias-war-in-ukraine-mapped/
And is that why Russian soldiers turned up with parade uniforms they never got to wear: https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-said-found-russian-p...
And is that why Russia turned to recruiting prisoners to use as cannon fodder: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/13/world/europe/ukraine-russ...
And is that why they enjoyed Prigozhin's rebellion: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/23/europe/wagner-prigozhin-c...
And is that why Russian soldiers are still having a nice time a year and a half in, stuck in a pointless war of choice which has achieved nothing good for anyone: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/ukraine-...
> Doesn't sound like a loss
You don't seem to be across any of this.