but you say it is critical for putin for a win. some people are talking about this as plan b to concentrate everything on the east after mariupol would fall, but i see this as operation save face. right. because putin needs a victory, and as somebody who studies autocrats i see things going on the battlefield in ukraine in relation to what is going on at home. putin is in trouble. he has been embarrassed in front of the world with the poor performance of his military and they re puffing up his personality cult, releasing stories that he is more popular than ever, which is a sure sign that they need to do that. so the saving face and the may 9th is very important. they re going to have a victory because he wants to be stalin 2.0, and may 9th is the anniversary of the defeat of the russians over the nazis. but all of these fighters on at