Regardless of what happens, the real loser will be the people caught in the crossfire. That's how it almost always is.

I sympathize with the Ukrainians as a people. I doubt their government is very good. Definitely very corrupt. I also doubt Putin cares how about how many innocent lives he ruins. And by ruins, I don't necessarily mean just the dead or injured of which there may not necessarily be that many, but all the other collateral damage. Whenever war breaks out you always have people fleeing areas where there is fighting which is a hardship on them. You also have people losing their jobs in areas that are affected and losing their property. And a period of poverty always follows as a country tries to rebuild.