Russia and Ukraine

[Rev. Rye]

Given that Putin’s attempt to subjugate Ukraine was originally supposed to take three weeks

Is that what Western propaganda told you, or what the Kremlin said?

Six months in and Russia controls barely 1/5 of Ukraine. This isn’t propaganda, it’s a brute fact. When you’re failing to achieve your objectives in a war, you’re losing. When you’re losing, the other side - by keeping you from achieving those objectives - is winning.

How do you know Russia's objectives?

I can't find any sources for Boru's three weeks figure. The closest I could find were articles from three weeks into the invasion expressing surprise that Ukraine was still fighting with such little headway, and the director of the CIA claiming that Putin hoped Kyiv would fall in two days.

As for Russia's objectives, look no further than this article penned by Vladimir Putin himself and hosted on the Kremlin's own website. Putin has made abundantly clear that he doesn't even believe Ukraine should be an independent nation, and even compared the state's mere existence to a WMD attack on Russia.

And over a month after the invasion, this article appeared in Russian State Media. While I haven't found any reaction from Putin (though given that it was posted on official Russian State media, I doubt he's going to disavow it), it looks like his lapdog Medvedev is in firm agreement.