All depends on the definition of 'win'.
The million dollar question these days.
Reasonable parties, on all sides, think that both sides can claim a victory - nobody has to feel humiliated. That is, Ukraine can claim victory because it is still standing, whereas Russia can claim 20% of Ukrainian territory as a healthy addition to the empire.
Maximalists - on both sides - are hell bent on spoiling this "understanding".
On the Ukrainian side, they say:
1) Any ceasefire is a chance for Putin to rearm and recruit.
2) Without Western security guarantees and EU membership, Ukraine will find itself in some kind of a limbo, and eventually become a failed state. Better to fight to the bitter end.
On the Russian side, quite obviously, people say:
1) Did we tank our economy for a 20% slice of a country whose economy was 1/10th of ours, on the eve of the invasion?
2) Did we really lose, one million men (250,000 dead, and 3X as much wounded), in exchange for a a couple million pensioners, and a huge reconstruction bill?
I'm afraid there won't be many 'winners' after the dust settles.
This is my feeling, and that of many others.
We certainly "taught" Ukraine a lesson. A very expensive one, and one they won't soon forget. But the price? The price was exorbitant.
They also likely expected things to develop differently. They underestimated us, and thought we were weaker than we actually were. For their miscalculation, they paid a heavy, heavy price. Such a price, from which their country may not recover.
In the end - we are both retards. Clowns for the Western audience - for whom we did a dance for their dollars and euros. In other words - typical "no brain" Slavs.
Bashed each other's heads in, and the only achievement is we earned everyone's grudging respect - as one respects a monkey or a dog with some fighting spirit.
