Please don’t pretend to understand strategy, pal. You’re talking to a military historian. Russian shells and missiles are pounding cities and murdering civilians more than anything. And Russia resorted to such measures only after after their failure to take Kyiv, Kharkov, and their year-long assault on Bakhmut. And if your naive enough to think Russia doesn’t throw bodies at defences, you seriously need to look at what they did at Bakhmut.

The entire reason Prigozhin revolted was because his mercenaries were being used as cannon fodder, Russian forces are short on ammunition, and commanders have been turning on each other.

This became a war of attrition when Russias offensives failed, now they are resorting to convicts, conscripts, and facing internal revolts. Even their vaunted hypersonic missiles have proven to be useless, depriving Putin of his last resort - tactical nukes.

The war is lost, but apparently there are some beyond the Kremlin who can’t see that. They have their denial, but what’s your excuse for missing the obvious?