When Russian President Vladimir Putin first launched his ''special military operation'' in Ukraine in February 2022, he likely envisioned that his 2023 -- and certainly his 2024 -- annual address to lawmakers would be triumphant. Instead, on Feb. 14, 2024, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov admitted that Russia's operation had gone on ''somewhat longer than planned'' but assured all of its goals would still be achieved. That same day, Putin said that his only regret regarding the war was not having started it earlier. As Putin prepares his second wartime annual address to Russia's Federal Assembly on Feb. 29, a Russian victory in Ukraine appears increasingly likely but it is far from assured.
A year ago, we examined how Russia's invasion of Ukraine had come with significant strategic costs for Moscow and how the subsequent year of war had internally changed Russia. The second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the...
