There's a difference between what Putin hoped to gain, and what he will actually gain. I suspect that Putin thought this would be a cakewalk and he hoped to gai

There's a difference between what Putin hoped to gain, and what he will actually gain. I suspect that Putin thought this would be a cakewalk and he hoped to gain territory in Ukraine. Instead, this is increasingly looking like a huge blunder for the Russian state. The name of the game now is probably self-preservation and saving-face for the Putin government. What "self-preservation" means to Putin is hard to guess but an embarrassing retreat from Ukraine doesn't seem like it's on the table yet.