Russia knows the consequences yet they push it through just to prove to the world that they are powerful, but it looks like they are slowly failing. The inflation will rise more, expect a more sanctions and Russian people will suffer a lot. We already heard the news about panicking in Russia, I feel sorry for them since they can’t even protest to their own government or else they’ll face charges.
IKEA announced yesterday to shut down all stores and stop all production of furniture in Russia and Belarus. As a result, there was a panic buying in IKEA stores. Similarly, other Western companies will withdraw their business from Russia. It will be a dark time for the Russians. I have read in various threads that many Russians are now betting on China, but China may be able to cushion things a bit, but certainly not prevent the collapse of the Russian economy.
I don't know what Putin was thinking when he started this big war. It was foolish to hope that the Ukrainians would simply surrender without a fight, but that seems to be exactly what Putin was hoping for. The current 150,000-strong Russian army that invaded Ukraine had a dry ration for three days. Before that, this army was dangling near the border of Ukraine in the mud for several months and now it is a hungry, tattered mass, armed with the latest weapons. True, more and more often they leave their equipment without fuel and run away, or surrender. There are already more than 2,000 captured Russians in Ukraine, and their number continues to grow.
Russia's open and absolutely brazen attack on Ukraine caused an unprecedented condemnation of the countries of Europe and the whole world, as well as the most severe sanctions. Large current inflation is flowers compared to what awaits Russia in the future.