Why it's "Game Over" for P* - and he's starting to realize that.

[Eyeball_Kid]

9. Putin MUST believe that he has a mission to complete. He has at least that much of humanity in him.

Putin to the generals and the FSB officials whom he just fired: Tell me what I want to hear and make it sound like it's what I want to know. If you tell me something that doesn't fit with what really happens, then you're fired and don't come back here again.

That's life under the rule of a despot. Putin wants everyone to please him. So they do. They tell him lies about the war. When he finds that what they tell him isn't a description of the real world, they get punished. So if you're an underling, you can't tell Putin the truth (his military is weak and out of control) without getting fired, and you can't lie to him because you'll get fired.