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Apart from the very expensive nuclear early warning radar Ukraine wrecked..what are they hitting that's budget significant? From oil & gas exports alone Russia gets $300 million a day. That can pay for loads of refinery repairs.
Reuters reported that despite all these strikes on refinery, actual refining is down just 3% this year.
They don't have to. They have more shells, more drones and more bombs - they can keep killing Ukrainian soldiers at a favorable ratio until Ukraine agrees not to be a US proxy, which is their goal.
If the Russian goal was 'Ukraine isn't a US proxy' then they could have just not invaded in the first place. The idea that the invasion of Ukraine was really Russia defending itself against the US is a bizarre fantasy. The goal was conquering Ukraine to eliminate it as a sovereign state, and to eliminate the identity of the Ukrainian people as distinct from the Russians. Putin literally wrote an essay on why the invasion was justified, it's nothing to do with America.
Russia is against Ukraine joining NATO because NATO membership might prevent Russia invading again once it has built up more strength.
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