The other hope, of course, is that Russia won't really continue to fight. They have likely lost an unfathomable number of troops in this misadventure, and if they weaken their military any further, one wonders if some other country might not feel compelled to take advantage. China, if you're listening, do you want Primorskii Krai? I'm only joking - I don't want any country to invade Russia - but fear of that possibility may cause Putin to tell the troops NOT to advance, just pretend to fight. Maybe Russian troops will simply post propaganda videos of "special operations" (it seems to be how the Kadyrovtsy spend their time - shooting videos of themselves shooting at ...something?). I would definitely take a pantomime of a war over continued crimes against humanity, any day, even if it deepens the mockery of having already killed so many people for no good reason.