I wonder, are Ukrainians ever dying? The slow advance of the Russians is paid for by countless lives of Ukrainian defenders. And while the Ukrainians have created a fine defense and their drone warfare puts Russia to shame, Russia is advancing. They took Avdeevka, Bakhmut, Pokrovsk and are poised to take Konstantinovka. And I believe that sooner or later, the Ukrainian defense will collapse. Without Ukrainians, no amount of Western help will be enough. And Russia should maintain the pressure, in fact Russia could up the ante. Although I am not sure the leadership of Russia wants the latter.

And to be frank, Russia incurs large losses, and the Ukrainian strategy was to try inflict maximum pain with NATO help to make Russia stop but for Russia the price is NATO aligned and dangerous Ukraine. So tell me, what price is worth it? Without pacification and realignment of Ukraine or at least large part of it, the war would likely flare up in the future. So Russia has to do the job right now, they have no choice.