The Russian invasion of Ukraine is still in full swing as it was reported earlier on Monday that Moscow had deployed almost 100 percent of the troops amassed at the border into the conflict. After about 10 days of military hostilities, Ukraine is still mounting a valiant defense against the Kremlin and both sides have suffered severe losses.

Russia’s forces managed to capture Kherson, the first Ukrainian city to fall during the conflict. But they have been unable to make progress in capturing the capital city of Kyiv. Nevertheless, Moscow appears to remain undeterred in its effort to topple Ukraine’s government. But given the developments that have emerged, is it possible that Russian President Vladimir Putin miscalculated? Is Russia starting to lose?

A video recently went viral on social media in which a captured Russian soldier criticized his country’s aggression and asked for mercy for his fellow soldiers. National Guard Lt. Col. Astakhov Dmitry Mikhailovich urged his compatriots to abandon the war effort. “You are in a tense situation, going against your own commander, but this is genocide,” he pleaded. “Russia cannot win here anyway, even if we go until the very end. We can invade the territory, but we cannot invade the people.”

He then addressed Ukrainians, saying that he feels “shame that we came into this country.”

“I don’t know why we were doing it,” he continued. “We knew very little. We brought sorrow to this land.”

The officer explained that he and his fellow soldiers were told by the Russian government that “nationalists and Nazis had seized power” in Ukraine and that it was headed towards fascism.

“Obviously, this information was unilateral information,” he said.

He stated that Russia’s troops do not wish to have war and that he hoped “for your mercy toward those people who come to you with their hands up or those who are wounded,” and that “we should not sow death. It’s better to sow life.”

This, out of #Ukraine, is 100% one of the most incredible videos I have ever seen.

This Russian POW has the heart of a lion 🦁 pic.twitter.com/KIx1rsN0CZ

— Jackie Singh 🇺🇦 🇺🇸 (@hackingbutlegal) March 6, 2022

Public opinion seems to be turning on Putin, even in his own country. A prominent Russian oligarch also publicly called on the president to cease hostilities and shared a video criticizing the invasion. The Washington Examiner reported:

Oleg Deripaska, known for his prior business relationships with former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and British ex-spy Christopher Steele, and who is accused of assisting the Russian government’s influence operations worldwide, repeatedly tweeted Monday that “we need peace” and shared a lengthy video from Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari, who criticized Putin and his invasion.

“I don’t always agree with [Harari] … But here I do agree with him, and I am sure most Russian people do — we need peace,” Deripaska tweeted. “We need peace as soon as possible, as we have already passed the point of no return — and this is the second point I agree with. The entire world will be different, Russia will be different as well.”

The video included in Deripaska’s post was a TED talk interview with Harari.

“It’s not the Russian people who want this war. It’s really just a single person who, by his decisions, created this tragedy,” Harari explained, “The Russian people don’t really want this war. Even the people in the immediate circle around Putin, you know, again, I don’t know them personally, but from what it seems, these people, they like life.”

Like many others, the historian also surmised that Putin had underestimated Ukraine’s willingness to fight and also the resolve of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“His belief was, at least, that he just needs to invade, Zelensky will flee, the government will collapse, the army will lay down its arms, and the Ukrainian people would welcome the Russian liberators, throwing flowers at them,” Harari said. “And this fantasy has been shattered already. Zelensky hasn’t fled. The Ukrainian army is fighting. And the Ukrainian people is not throwing flowers on the Russian tanks — it’s throwing Molotov cocktails.”

But even more interesting is the recent development related to alleged assassination attempts on Zelensky. The Russian government has reportedly made three unsuccessful efforts to kill the Ukrainian president. The reason these operations failed is that anti-war elements within Russia’s Federal Security Service alerted Zelensky’s camp beforehand. Combined with the protests that have occurred in Russia – which were promptly stamped out by Putin’s forces – it is clear that public opinion is making it more difficult for the Russian president to topple Ukraine’s government.

Of course, none of these developments are guarantees that Putin will not ultimately get what he wants. But it does show that he will not have an easy time of it if he does manage to succeed. But it is also possible that the situation will become untenable for Moscow. If this happens, America and Europe may need to be prepared to give Putin an off-ramp of sorts – a way for him to cease hostilities while saving face. Either way, it will be interesting to see how this situation shakes out.