Russia Ukraine war, page-226795

The point is stronger if we take reports of what was happening at the time. Anyone can sit here today and claim Russia were acting without regard for the Ukrainian people - as we see daily.
It's up there with "Russia don't want to negotiate / can't be trusted" - something that has to be believed to help accept prolonging the conflict.
Russia's conduct in the brutal war tells a different story than the widely accepted view that Vladimir Putin is intent on demolishing Ukraine and inflicting maximum civilian damage—and it reveals the Russian leader's strategic balancing act. If Russia were more intentionally destructive, the clamoring for U.S. and NATO intervention would be louder. And if Russia were all-in, Putin might find himself with no way out. Instead, his goal is to take enough territory on the ground to have something to negotiate with, while putting the government of Ukraine in a position where they have to negotiate.