Rout in Ukraine fuels debate in Russia: Ease up or double down?

Ukraine’s lightning offensive in Kharkiv last week recaptured a large swath of territory and humiliated the Russian army. And in doing so, it ignited a very public debate in Russia – perhaps surprisingly so – over how the “special military operation,” as they still call it, is going.

There’s been a spectrum of responses to recent events in Ukraine, but for convenience they can be thought of as two groups: “hawks” and “doves.” Both see the need for drastic decisions to correct the course of the conflict – though they have very different ideas how.

Those who believe the war is a misbegotten enterprise that needs to end have existed from the operation’s outset. Their voices have become more urgent in the wake of the Kharkiv debacle.

On the other end, nationalist critics have long complained