Putin is running out of purely military cards to salvage his failed invasion of Ukraine.
The war has effectively narrowed down to three main paths for Russia: freezing the war, continuing the current attritional status quo, or initiating a major escalation.
Because Putin is a notorious decision-making procrastinator who prefers to delay high-stakes changes, he is highly likely to cling to the status quo for as long as humanly possible. That won’t last forever.
A freeze would actually be Moscow’s smartest and most dangerous play. It would allow Russia to stop its financial bleeding, rebuild its forces, and keep Ukraine in a state of permanent geopolitical limbo without ever having to demobilize or publicly admit defeat.
However, a freeze is highly unlikely because Putin views this war as entirely existential to his regime. Furthermore, he operates in a total informational vacuum. Gerasimov and other top commanders routinely hide Ukrainian successes and wildly exaggerate Russian gains, leaving the idiot without a realistic view of the battlefield.
When this status quo inevitably fractures and forces his hand, any real military escalation will be severely bottlenecked. His primary option would be opening a front through Belarus. While Belarus attacking alone wouldn’t change much, a joint force would dangerously force Kyiv to divert vital brigades from the critical southern and eastern fronts. Russia would likely need to mobilize to do that.
Putin is facing tough dilemmas as he slowly runs out of cards. However, the few cards he has left should not be underestimated
— @joni_askola Jul 8, 2026
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