Everyone Says Russia’s Losses Mean Putin Is Losing — a Professor Just Explained Why That May Be the West’s Most Dangerous Mistake

The numbers say Russia is failing: 1.4 million casualties, advances measured in meters, losses outpacing recruitment. But this analysis argues the West is making a dangerous category error. Putin already lost his first war — the dash for Kyiv — and is now fighting one of pure exhaustion, where he measures Western endurance while Washington measures Russian efficiency. The Soviets lost up to 11 million soldiers and still took Berlin. The bleeding is real. Whether it breaks Moscow before Ukraine runs out of men or the West runs out of patience is the only question that decides the war.