The sanctions do far more to serve Washington's interest than to hurt Russia's. For Russia the main burden of the sanctions is the insult.

Russia is in position to issue crippling sanctions against the US and Europe, but so far has not done so. The Russians seem determined to prevail with as little force as possible. The Kremlin has not paralyzed Germany by turning off the gas. The Russians have not nationalized US and European assets. The Russians have not disrupted global supply chains by refusing to sell minerals. The Russians have not stopped the export of wheat. The Russians have not issued international arrest orders for American and European war criminals for their crimes against humanity in Serbia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and for their various assassinations.

On the military front, the Ukrainian forces are essentially surrounded and incapable of counterattack or effective resistance except for some Nazi militias that have ensconced their heavy weapons among concentrations of civilians. Under the Kremlin's current rules, the Russian forces are prohibited from firing heavy weapons into civilian areas. The Russians, of course, get no credit for this. The Western presstitutes continue to repeat fake news of indiscriminate Russian attacks on civilians.

It demonstrates the stupidity of Western people that they believe Russia would waste military resources on non-military targets. As Putin said, the West "is an empire of lies." Soon we will be reading in the New York Times and hearing on NPR and CNN that Russian troops are throwing premature babies out of incubators and bayonetting children.