[iGreg]

Regarding stories about Putin's health:

I read somewhere (I think the NY Post) that the likely successor to Putin is even tougher than Putin. Putin heads an autocratic regime, but he is NOT alone in running Russia. There are power centers in the security and military structures of the country. The belief in the West that Putin is some kind of lone madman is non-sense. Make no mistake, what we are seeing in Ukraine is Russian policy, not just the policy of Czar Putin.

 

[iGreg]

 

[2edgesword]

The whole thing is crazy.

 

[iGreg]

This is a much better plan for the Russians, rather than the failed attempt to swallow the whole country starting with the capital Kyiv. I find it hard to believe that the Ukrainians would be able to recover the eastern and southern parts of Ukraine from the Russians.

So, perhaps Ukraine remains an independent country, with a perpetual stalemate with Russia over the eastern and southern portions of their country. Russia has control over some of Ukraine's most valuable territory. Which also provides a stronger buffer between them and NATO. Putin can easily (and with some justification), call the war a success. Also, Ukraine can also rightly consider surviving as a country as a success.