Ever play Civilization? Russia's economy started growing rapidly almost immediately after they shed the Communist's from their midst. Russia switched to capitalism, and they turn an immense annual profit now. In the Civilization game, the way you halt the growth of a rapidly growing civilization is to bog them down with a war. War always cost 100 times more than you expect it to. It consumes wealth, resources, manpower, etc, like fire consumes a forest. Afghanistan was a major drain on the Soviet Union. Look at Nato's actions since the fall of the Soviets - even back during Bill Clinton, the West has been doing everything they can to bog down the Russians in a series of wars. Russia has been playing defense for thirty years. They still are. Zelensky's masters wanted the war - that was the point the entire time. The real question is, is this endless war strategy slowing the Russians or is it actually making the Russians stronger? It seems to have made Russia much stronger.