A Ukrainian counteroffensive has pushed Russian forces back to the east surprisingly quickly and effectively. Military experts are now wondering if Ukraine will win the war outright and avoid the stalemate that seemed likely only a few weeks ago. But if Vladamir Putin starts to feel the heat both in the field and from citizens at home, what is he capable of? And lacking a mechanism to remove their leader from office, what can Russians do?

Guest: Fred Kaplan is Slate’s war stories correspondent and author of The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, and the Secret History of Nuclear War.

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If Russia Loses the War