Russian mothers will at some point be told of their dead soldiers but most live far from Moscow so not of serious concern to Putin. BUT the word of what really happened in the Ukraine, the devastation of the cities, killing of civilians, bombing of hospitals and orphanages etc will eventually get out as all those 200,000 soldiers eventually go home. They will have photos, they know what they did, saw things first hand, so in the end the truth will get out. Today the Russian people who get their news from state media support Putin and believe what they are being told. When they know the truth they will see things differently.
Meanwhile the Ukrainians will not forget whatever the outcome. They will have hatred for Russia for generations. That includes the Russian speakers. So the idea of a fraternal relationship between the two countries will be a thing of the past.
There is also the resurgence of the fear of Russia as a hostile neighbor capable of encroachment at any time. This has persisted in the border states but now it has become accepted in states further to the West. Russia IS now seen as the enemy. This is not good. Not good for the Russians, not good for all the rest of the Europeans. As long as Putin is the leader and Russia maintains an authoritarian government this view will persist. It is important for this view to be diminished sooner than later before it infects the younger generation who want to be Europeans and are not concerned about being a superpower any more than the French or British youth are. Putin wants Russia to be a superpower but it is not. The younger generation has different priorities.
There is lots of criticism flying about and Friday morning quarterbacking going on especially from those out to push a political agenda. Though is is nearly impossible to keep secrets these days things are going on, weapons delivered, etc that are kept secret. That’s as it should be. What we don’t need is the constant spilling the beans by the media and the constant negative attacks on what the governments are doing from places like Fox which just serve to encourage Russian aggression and confuse our public. Thousands are being displaced and killed. Time for some social responsibility. Not the time to score points for this political party or that.