Russian material losses in the conflict include 11,780 tanks, 24,400 armored vehicles, 40,800 artillery systems, 435 planes, 350 helicopters and over 240,000 UAVs. Russia's Black Sea Fleet has been crippled and Ukrainian seaborne drones have effectively kept its ships bottled up in port. Two Russian warships that dared venture to Sevastopol in occupied Crimea were destroyed in the harbor this past weekend.

British military estimates now show the rate of Russian losses in both men and material exceeding the Kremlin's capacity to replace them in a timely manner. To add insult to injury, Ukrainian drones are now roaming Russian skies far afield; a drone strike this weekend crippled the Russian Baltic Sea oilport city of Vysotsk, north of Leningrad. In fact, Ukrainian aerial attacks on the Russian petroleum industry's infrastructure have resulted in a 40% reduction in production and export.

Two entire Russian divisions were lured deep into Ukrainian territory toward the town of Kupiansk, only to then be cut off and destroyed in February, with a loss of 25,000 men. Over the past 72 hours, Ukrainian forces have apparently punched an enormous hole in the Russian lines east of Zaporizhia. Should those lines give way entirely, Russian-occupied Crimea could be cut off and isolated, which would effectively trap 30,000-50,000 troops on that peninsula.

 In short, it's a war of attrition and while Ukraine's military has learned to adapt its strategy and tactics to meet changing conditions on the battlefield, Russia is being bled white in the struggle because the Kremlin has learned nothing from this fiasco and continues to treat its personnel as so much cannon fodder, sending them daily into the meat grinder.

"..it will lessen the power of highly educated, often female voters, who vote mostly Democrat and make their economic power less, and will increase the economic power of vocationally trained working class male voters."  

"Now, every woman and every man,
They wanna take a righteous stand,
Find the love that God wills
And the faith that He commands.
I've got my finger on the trigger.
But tonight, faith just ain't enough.
When I look inside my heart,
There's just devils and dust."

"We've got God on our side.
We're just trying to survive.
But what if what you do to survive
Kills the things you love?
Fear's a powerful thing, baby.
It'll turn your heart black, you can trust.
It'll take your God-fearin' soul
And fill it with devils and dust."
- Bruce Springsteen, Devils and Dust (2005)