Putin Would Take 'A Partial Victory'

Tyrant believes the troop deaths are a price worth paying

- Chris Hughes

VLADIMIR Putin is hoping for a partial victory in Ukraine despite huge losses leaving his army on the point of collapse, experts believe.

Kremlin figures are said to have failed to persuade the president that the invasion, which has cost 30,350 Russian troops' lives, is a catastrophe, says a top UK analyst in a confidential report.

It said Putin believes the losses are a "price worth paying" for a victory in Ukraine's contested Donbas region.

He thinks taking Donbas would give him leverage against Kyiv and failure would result in him being deposed.

Yesterday Moscow's troops entering the south east and north east of Sievierodonetsk met valiant resistance from Ukrainian forces. Constant shelling has left the Donbas city looking like the destroyed southern port of Mariupol.