People who know Putin say he is ready to sacrifice untold lives and treasure for as long as it takes, and in a rare face-to-face meeting with the Americans last month the Russians wanted to deliver a stark message to President Biden: No matter how many Russian soldiers are killed or wounded on the battlefield, Russia will not give up.
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...Just days after facing blowback about the war from normally friendly
leaders in September, Mr. Putin doubled down on the invasion, calling up
hundreds of thousands of Russians in a draft that was supposed to turn
the war in Russia’s favor, but has instead stirred growing anger at
home. Soon after, hundreds of Russian soldiers were killed outside
Pavlivka...
