The invasion this February was a major strategic blunder by Putin. Maybe if Zelensky had fled the country, maybe Putin's invastion would have been successful, maybe. But the moment the Russian army lost the battle of Kyiv, Putin should have done the 1979-Chinese move and withdraw. He didn't. He doubled down. And by "annexing" Ukrainian territory a few weeks ago he sort of downgraded the status of Crimea too, to just another piece of stolen land.
Now the Kerch Bridge has been attacked. It could happen again. The irony of this war: Now Ukraine is united, confident, and more happy than ever to be part of the "Western" world, the European family.
In the long run, but hopefully soon, Russia needs to drop those old-fashioned and ugly imperialist ambitions and join the European family too, as an Eurasian sibling.