Nah. There are always face-saving offramps... And examples like Saddam doing just fine after his failed invasion of Iran.

If the war ended tomorrow, and Russia withdrew from Ukraine, Putin would still be enjoying ~50% organic support among Russians.

Just like Trump has a ~35% approval floor of complete idiots standing behind him as he sends inflation and gas prices and cost of living through the roof...

Putin enjoys fairly wide actual support for generally developing the country over his tenure. Whether someone else would have done better is not the hypothetical people are engaging with.

The Russo-Japanese war ultimately didn't end well for the Romanovs.

A lot of people died in suspicious circumstances.

I mean, someone has to be held accountable for that, don't they?