Who would have been chosen by Prager because he fits the narrative Prager wants, in the same way the “experts” that MSNBC and Fox trot out always seem to toe the company line. It’s actually a really interesting discussion if you dig into it, but it’s not really relevant for this thread, so I’ll let it go. The larger points I agree with anyway.
The people obviously value human life (certainly their own), but the current leadership does not. Putin worships Stalin and considers him to be Russia's greatest modern (wartime) leader, and that's why he rehabilitated Stalin's reputation at the start of this invasion. He just didn't realize that the war would take so long and that the sacrifices that Russia would have to make would be so significant for a non-existential war.
Did you actually read beyond the propaganda headline? First, the "Kyiv Independent," lol. But the article infers the Russian ambassador to the U.K. confessed to 'staggering losses,' which is intentionally vague. (could mean 4,000 for all we know). Then article proceeds to not even provide the actual quote the Russian ambassador allegedly spoke. You realize stuff like this undercuts your position even further?
There’s lots of articles out there on the subject. Take your pick. Russia Unwittingly Confirms Ukraine’s Estimates of Russian Casualties in Ukraine But if you’re going to be convinced only a few Russians have died, that they continue to sit this close to decisive victory, that air superiority is a thing of the past just because Russia can’t do it, and so on, then I’m not sure what direct quotations from a Russian ambassador I could provide you that would mean anything to you anyway.
Interestingly, I just heard on cable news that the drone factories in Iran were one of the targets of the strikes there. Wonder what it means for Russia/Ukraine.
Somewhere up thread there was a report of NK contemplating sending 25,000 workers to Russia to build the Shahed drones in Russia.
Unfortunately, Russia is now building most of those drones that Iran had originally provided - or so I have read.