comment: >
  
  He's probably afraid that if the war goes badly enough (i.e. losing the territories seized in 2014) other russians in the security apparatus will correctly conclude that he's fucking things up badly and politely insist on his leaving the country (or poison his ass).  
  Dictators usually don't get to stay in power after losing a war.
context: How many of those times did they target non-civilians? >
  
  None of them ,literally  not a single shot :'( >
  
  This is, by the way, ‘officially’ Russian territory (according to themselves). Guess they’re trying to make themselves home. >
  
  At some point people are going to start ignoring the noise of propaganda tuned to 3 minute attention spans and ask one important question. 
  What is it about Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaparozia that makes them valuable enough for Putin to throw literally everything he has at them? 
  The initial assault on kyiv was a convenience play. And had the Ukrainians just rolled over and taken it as projected it would have been much easier and less costly for him. But they did not. And now that he is losing Russia is forced to show more of its cards by stating emphatically that these 4 regions are non negotiable.  
  He obviously doesn’t give a shit about winning the hearts and minds of the “russians” he is saving from western influence and the Ukrainian language. You don’t carpet bomb the population you want to liberate with white phosphorous and thermite.