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They are a rational actor in a world of skewed premises.

>And yet the war which realistically can't be won

...is being fought on many battlefields, including the elections in the US.

And I am not so sure Russia isn't winning that one.

It looks like currently Russia just decides how much it gets hurt in return. There's barely any real change for months in terms of progress, but instead the scope of strikes in its territory expands. I mean, we're at the stage of energy infrastructure and large warehouses being a valid target, with some regional persistent blackouts. If pressed harder, I'm not sure Ukraine will stop itself from hitting utilities and energy infra in winter. Whatever the outcome looks like in terms of land ownership, Russia can't "win" for the current generation - it's already got many years worth of rebuilding and bringing some balance to the population to do. I literally can't imagine how anyone in Ukraine or Russia in the next decade or more could be better off in life, compared to immediate withdrawal.

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