He wanted to destroy the military of the Ukraine within hours. He claimed until yesterday that no Russians will be killed because it's a limited operation, not a war.
He certainly expected some symbolic sanctions, but not the massive consequences Russia is facing now. He expected vast support from the Russian public (90% when occupying Crimea 6 years ago).
None of those have happened. At the moment he looks like a loser. However, I am not convinced he will just give up like this. He will continue the war. And once he has nothing to lose, danger is that he uses the nuclear
option. He has been sitting in a bunker (as Navalny expressed it) for 2 years in fear of the virus, meeting only very few people. It has made him lose contact with reality at least, if not even more severe mental consequences.
> He has been sitting in a bunker (as Navalny expressed it) for 2 years in fear of the virus, meeting only very few people.
Lmao, Navalny wouldn't miss a chance to say something ridiculous like that.
Practically all world leaders had engaged in similar anti-COVID measures. And obviously there was no real bunker.
I wonder what you base your assertions regarding Putin's expectations on?
To me it looks like he only expected more support from people in Ukraine, but it's not that clear, as Russian government seems to have decided to skip the informational warfare part altogether.
> Practically all world leaders had engaged in similar anti-COVID measures
Most of them have been showing up in parliament many times a week, many wearing a mask. (Of course that depends a bit on the government model.) Some of them like Trump, Bolzonaro or Boris Johnson had Covid. Especially Trump grossly ignored scientific advice and had huge campaign events. Trump and Johnson had infamous garden parties. Not that I would call that smart, but that practically all leaders had similar measures is not true.
It's said that especially oligarchs lost direct contact to Putin because he stopped meeting people. Whether that is true I can obviously not prove.
He certainly expected some symbolic sanctions, but not the massive consequences Russia is facing now. He expected vast support from the Russian public (90% when occupying Crimea 6 years ago).
None of those have happened. At the moment he looks like a loser. However, I am not convinced he will just give up like this. He will continue the war. And once he has nothing to lose, danger is that he uses the nuclear option. He has been sitting in a bunker (as Navalny expressed it) for 2 years in fear of the virus, meeting only very few people. It has made him lose contact with reality at least, if not even more severe mental consequences.