Let's disregard that the data is unverified, and assume it is factual - that Russia has indeed lost around 400,000+ soldiers so far.

It really looks bad until you consider that:

1. The territories in East Ukraine - Donetsk (DPR), Luhansk (LPR), Zaporizhzhia and Kherson - that Russia seeks to annex had a population of around 10+ million in 2022 ( https://www.statista.com/statistics/1295222/ukraine-populati... ).

2. Conservative estimates of the population post-war, and under Russian occupation of Ukrainian territories is around 3.5 million ( https://frontliner.ua/en/nearly-a-fifth-of-the-country-life-... ).

3. Conservative estimate of the population in Crimea (which was annexed in 2014 and thus hasn't seen as much war displacement) is around 2.5 million.

So, if Russia manages to retain the territory it has occupied in Ukraine it is conservatively going to also add 6+ million people to its population. Even disregarding the economic benefits that Russia will accrue from the occupied territories, the cost-benefit analysis just in terms of population gain makes it clear why it is advantageous for the Russians to keep fighting, especially when it already has the advantage.

Yeah, about that.

That’s not going to work. The resistance in those cities is extremely efficient and decentralised, you arrest one, there are still 2000 people who don’t know each other but get orders and opportunities.

You need to control these cities and their populations, and that is an absolute nightmare, because you have hundreds of Ukrainians snitching on the Russians all day every day, and guys like Petro in the video below are having a day, exploding Russian police chiefs and mass poisoning their officers, soldiers, and shoots at poor traffic cops with rockets at work, making videos of how they puke their guts out while screaming and dying, bleeding out of every orifice.

They sent special forces and military intelligence after him, he sent them back in a dogfood bag. Can’t find the other video I have seen about this guy with a video compilation, probably got removed.

Who wants to work in those occupied cities as a Russian when there is a potential million people hunting your ass for sport on top of your own people who will help the resistance to put a bomb in your cute little police car?

You know corrupt Russian officers are corrupt Russian officers. You give them a few grand in a better currency than roubles, they will help to murder their own people. Growing up in Russia being loyal gets you nowhere, you need to throw everyone under the bus to have a good life, just like Putin shows you, if you are not the one fucking, you’re the one getting fucked.

The only sane way to survive as a Russian is to simply stay on your side of the border, and you don’t die a gruesome poison death or your legs getting blown to shreds with shrapnel.

"It’s fun" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLERq02oexs