Commentary In his 2014–2015 wars with Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin was hypersensitive to casualties. I imagine he remains so, even as earlier today as he ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. As I reported back in 2014, soldiers’ bodies were secretly transported back to Russia in special refrigerated trucks. Burials took place in the early morning hours. Grieving parents received payment on their son’s insurance only if they pledged to remain silent on the cause of his death. Associations of mothers of fallen soldiers were subjected to harassment and closure. Combat deaths were declared and remain a state secret. We now know the scope of Putin’s ambition with respect to Ukraine. His goal is not the slicing off of pieces of Ukrainian territory, such as in the Donbas. It is not the building of a land bridge from that region to Crimea. Rather, it is the annihilation of the Ukrainian political system …
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