Russia’s Huge Losses Remind the World that Democracies are Accountable to the People

Might Putin use nuclear weapons in Ukraine? Unlikely

Ukraine has made enormous progress in the war against the Russian invasion. Some 200,000 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded in the first year of the war, more than double the entire US casualties in Vietnam over 15 years. Nearly a million Russians have fled the country rather than be sent to Ukraine since Vladimir Putin instituted a military draft. Russian authorities are grabbing men off the street and compelling them to fight in Ukraine. Many will end up as cannon fodder.

In a democratic country where leaders are accountable to the people, this would not stand. If a US president launched a war with such huge casualties, such huge defections, and such serious allegations of war crimes, he would be