> Firstly why wouldn't one be scared of an opponent that can just steadily press against me, winning a war by attrition? Because if they can barely succeed tha

> Firstly why wouldn't one be scared of an opponent that can just steadily press against me, winning a war by attrition? Because if they can barely succeed that way against an enemy 1/3 of their size, they wouldn't be able to succeed that way against an enemy larger than them. And that's not even accounting for the fact that, after fighting a war of attrition, those people, those resources are dead and gone. Even if Russia wins, they don't have the manpower to do this again.