By all accounts, Russia is not winning in Ukraine. It has suffered significant losses. Last week, NATO estimated that Russia had lost 7,000 to 15,000 Russian soldiers in the four weeks of the war in Ukraine. For context, Russia lost about 15,000 troops over ten years in Afghanistan. Russia also lost seven of its top generals in Ukraine.
Moscow is signaling that it is scaling back its mission. On Friday, Sergei Rudskoi, the Russian armed forces deputy chief, changed the rhetoric. He said Russia had weakened Ukraine's military, and now the Kremlin would focus its core efforts on achieving the main goal, the liberation of the Donbas. The whole world, including Biden, noted it.
