Russia and Ukraine

[Leonardo17]

The entire russian state has been bent to the war effort..which is not soviet russia and cannot absorb the demographic or economic loss it's predecessor could - even if putin mistakenly believes or simply must as a matter of personal survival contend as much.

I don’t like to compare the Soviet Union with whatever it is that Putin is actually doing. I am not a great fan of the Communist Block either. But look at these figures:
 
The USSR only lost 15,000 men + 20,000 Afghans in Afghanistan between 1979 and 1989.
 
+ When it was time to go they divided the Pashtun forces and took until 1996 for the Taliban to completely overthrow the Moscow-friendly government in Kabul.
 
The Death toll of this war for Russians is 250,000 / 300,000 people in 3-4 years. You don’t have to increase this to a million. This is even above the scale of the Vietnam war (60,000 dead soldiers in roughly 10 years). It’s a number comparable to the losses of countries directly involved in WWI or WWII.
 
+ Speaking of Satan: War has other results on individuals even when they are not killed or severely injured. The current Russian army is not known for respecting and honoring its soldiers either. There is going to be thousands of severely disturbed people walking in the streets of the Russian Federation decades from now. (I’m talking of rapists, serial killer, Cult members or leaders perpetrating all sorts of anti-social behavior).
 
So again: Whatever power it is that stands behind Putin, it doesn’t have any consideration about the future of the Russian people at all.