My take: The west still looks at this from the perspective of the bigger power. I don't remember where I read that in asymmetric warfare, one side loses if it d

My take: The west still looks at this from the perspective of the bigger power. I don't remember where I read that in asymmetric warfare, one side loses if it doesn't win, while the other side wins if it doesn't lose. Ukraine is currently in the second group. They can "win" the war simply by not losing it. The longer it drags on, the bigger the losses are on both sides, but for Russia those losses are completely avoidable while for Ukraine the losses of the continued war aren't greater than the losses of stopping the war. Add to that the devastating sanctions of the west and it's easy to see how Russia is under immense pressure to achieve a proper victory as soon as possible. If there is any aspect in which Russia might be benefiting from prolonged fighting, it's the possibility of fixing their supply issues, but it's questionable how much that would open them up to even more partisan interference.