Originally Posted by
Ninthace
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Putting all that aside, even if Russia did manage to fight to the western edge of Ukraine, how are they going to cope with the resistance movement that will almost certainly be kept supplied by the West.
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Because the suppression moves from a military stronghold to social suppression and propaganda. Just like it is done in Russia itself.
Add to that, that probably large parts of the civilians are moved elsewhere in Russia as already being enforced in Donetsk/Luhansk (and later on replaced by natural Russian "Rebuilding the country !!!"), and it is not that difficult.
Put aside your Western mindset, when determining whether something like this is possible or not. Be creative like the Russians are with these things, and realizing control becomes much easier (though also very nasty for all involved, except the "leaders").