[Goose]

At the risk of posing a rhetorical question, what do the Russians stand to gain from continuing to fight this war?  They can lay waste to Ukrainian towns and kill Ukrainian people.  At a of immense proportions cost to Russia.  But it does not seem like the Russians will net natural resources, intact cities, or anything else of value.

It never did make sense on any level. It is a total vanity operation by Putin. There are lots of things Ukraine could do for Russia, and visa versa. There are natural economic synergies between the two countries that were nurtured by many years under a common flag. Yelsin actually thought both Belarus and Ukraine would vote to stay in the Russian Federation for those reasons. However, after Russia's actions in 2014 and subsequently, none of that is possible. Putin is a fool.

[Goose]

At the risk of posing a rhetorical question, what do the Russians stand to gain from continuing to fight this war?  They can lay waste to Ukrainian towns and kill Ukrainian people.  At a of immense proportions cost to Russia.  But it does not seem like the Russians will net natural resources, intact cities, or anything else of value.

It never did make sense on any level. It is a total vanity operation by Putin. There are lots of things Ukraine could do for Russia, and visa versa. There are natural economic synergies between the two countries that were nurtured by many years under a common flag. Yelsin actually thought both Belarus and Ukraine would vote to stay in the Russian Federation for those reasons. However, after Russia's actions in 2014 and subsequently, none of that is possible. Putin is a fool.