Lacking the force capacity, logistics train, morale, and combat power to remove Ukraine’s ability to resist, Vladimir Putin has a big problem.

The Russian president has staked a great deal of political capital on subjugating Ukraine’s democracy and restoring its people under Moscow’s authority. Putin’s agenda is now burning in Ukraine. Rather than fulfilling his almost theological mission to become the new Catherine the Great, the architect of a modern Russian empire, Putin now appears a new Grigory Kulik, a leader defined by obstinate military delusion.