Putin retreats deeper into his labyrinth

© Sputnik/Reuters Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at a memorial to the Hero Cities of World War II in Moscow on Feb. 23. More than a year into the war he launched in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin is confronted with failure. Over months of offensives, the Russian war machine faltered badly, failing to capture Kyiv and buckling on other fronts in Ukraine’s south and east. For Putin, conditions for any kind of victory remain elusive, but there’s no indication he is ready for real talks. The strategy has allowed Putin “to maintain political stability through a combination of intimidation and indifference,” Soldatov and Borogan wrote.