If you happen to be a major league sadist, or maybe a descendant of Pyrrhus of Epirus, this is hilarious.
If you aren’t (and I assure you I’m not) it isn’t funny at all.
From Mark Bendeich’s article at Reuters:
President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia would defeat Ukraine on the battlefield if necessary, but was ready to end the war via diplomacy and honour unspecified compromises he said had been agreed with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Who does this “man” think he’s kidding?
Russia attacked Ukraine. It was supposed to be an easy military conquest. Maybe a few weeks in length, a couple of months at most. No problem at all.
Except…
that attack took place on February 24, 2022. And it is now June of 2026. Well over four years ago.
And how has Russia made out so far? How is this “winning” effort actually playing out?
Well, according to The Center for Strategic and International Studies, as of December of 2025 Russia had suffered 1.2 million casualties, including at least 325,000 deaths. Here is the first paragraph of their assessment:
Despite claims of battlefield momentum in Ukraine, the data shows that Russia is paying an extraordinary price for minimal gains and is in decline as a major power. Since February 2022, Russian forces have suffered nearly 1.2 million casualties, more losses than any major power in any war since World War II. At current rates, combined Russian and Ukrainian casualties could reach 2 million by the spring of 2026. After seizing the initiative in 2024, Russian forces have advanced at an average rate of between 15 and 70 meters per day in their most prominent offensives, slower than almost any major offensive campaign in any war in the last century. Meanwhile, Russia’s war economy is under mounting strain, with manufacturing declining, slowing growth of 0.6 percent in 2025, and no globally competitive technology firms to help drive long-term productivity.
Does that give you any confidence that Russia is in a position to defeat Ukraine? Not me.
But there’s Putin, tell us that this is a successful military campaign with a straight face. And, given the casualty rate of Russian dissenters, I wouldn’t want to be the one to claim he’s as full of excrement as he obviously is.
Ditto for anyone who believes his stated promise that he is “ready to end the war via diplomacy and honour unspecified compromises”.
Last year, we were told Putin was ill and maybe terminal. That, at least so far, has not turned out to be the case.
Too bad for Russia and too bad for Ukraine.
But if you like laughing through gritted teeth, his utter BS is classic material.
