I mean, the only way for Putin to politically survive a retreat is to convince Russians that this catastrophic failure was actually a huge success, and their sons didn't die for nothing.
Seing them push a narrative that they have already achieved what they came there for is therefore kind of uplifting. If the Russians could leave Ukraine without losing face they would have done it months ago, and this seems to be the beginning of the effort to create such an opening.
Of course nobody in the West is going to buy it (well, almost nobody, without pointing any fingers), but much like the rest of Russian propaganda we don't really need to either. The only limit is which lies the Russian people are willing to believe, and for once I actually want them to believe this one - or at least I want the Kremlin to believe they believe it.
EricAux
quortez
Killakomodo