>If Putin starts sending unprepared and unwilling citizens to die for him, it won't be the tides returning, it will be a mutinous army returning to carry out a

>If Putin starts sending unprepared and unwilling citizens to die for him, it won't be the tides returning, it will be a mutinous army returning to carry out a military coup. Might happen or might not. Never underestimate the subservient mindset of Russians towards their despots and their crab-bucket mentality regarding Ukrainians. Hypothetical scenario: Putin generously offering peace and immediate withdrawal under the condition of Ukraine ceding the territories of DNR, LPR and Crimea effectively forever. Ukraine, currently being on a roll with the offensive, rejects the "offer" and tries to re-capture the territory in the East. Russia then starts constant long-range attacks from Russian territory. Will Ukraine take the bait and go on the offense and incurse into Russia, giving Russia an actual casus belli for general mobilization? I'm not saying that it's certain that Russia would win the war, even under general mobilization, looking at the current conduct and material state of the RuAF (Russian Armed Forces). But they could still generate a massive nationalistic sentiment of retaliation and create a gigantic slaughter and scorched earth, making an Ukrainian victory very costly and pyrrhic.