They can see the world's response. They know that Russia is quickly becoming a pariah state. Enabling his behavior can't be tolerated, and so far, it won't. If there's an iota of reason in the Putin inner circle, they'll hate what Putin is doing. The west has made his motivation for invading remarkably transparent. He's got nowhere to hide. His lies are obvious. By the day, he has less and less gravitas and credibility. His subordinates can see this.
There are a few things that will make Russia stand up and notice. One is that Ukraine can win a lot of hearts and minds, and that's a very big part of the war. Second, Ukraine will maximize any small gains that they make against Russia by the use of announcements and even tweets. (Those are more powerful than anyone would have expected.) The world will be cheering Ukraine on, not Russia. Putin had better pay attention to that. It will affect everything he does. Materiel will be pouring into Ukraine's army while Russia will be cut off from money and commerce. Besides, what's a war machine without nano-circuitry, eh, Vlad?
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