‘Diminishing returns’: What can change the course for Putin in the Ukraine war?

Nick Reynolds, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London, said the Kremlin will face limitations regarding munitions, manpower and morale, as well as logistics. Those realities may force Putin to change his goal from toppling the Ukrainian government to compelling changes in the Ukrainian political posture, or focusing the war on a single front. Reynolds pointed in particular to the manpower limitations. “It’s clear that Russia is searching really hard for personnel,” Reynolds said. “It’s not so much manpower. It’s trained and motivated manpower.”