For his pride and image it is, which seems to be the most important thing. Taking Ukraine also appears to be impossible at this point though. The only major cit

For his pride and image it is, which seems to be the most important thing. Taking Ukraine also appears to be impossible at this point though. The only major city he has taken has massive protests. Subduing 40 million hostile people in a country with that much territory would require huge number of soldiers and a lot more money than Russia can afford