Did Putin just give something away?

Vladimir Putin’s attempt at quickly toppling Ukraine’s cities and government has, rather obviously, failed. This is the part where the aggressor has to either withdraw or send in reinforcements to try to finish the job. Yet Putin instead seems to be trying to take a third path.

Last night Putin asked Kazakhstan to send troops to help him in Ukraine. The fact that Kazakhstan publicly turned him down is a big deal, since Kazakhstan is one of Putin’s closest allies. It suggests that Putin can’t even get his friends on board his sinking ship. But the bigger deal may be the fact that Putin had to ask at all.

If taking Ukraine is so crucial to Putin, why hasn’t he sent in more of the Russian army to finish the job? Why ask a third party to do his fighting for him, in a war that he’s bet his future and perhaps his life on? Something is amiss here.

Is the Russian army that depleted? Are factions of the Russian army refusing to fight? Have the oligarchs told Putin he’s not allowed to engage any more of the Russian army in the Ukraine debacle? Is Putin afraid that if he spreads his army any thinner, he may not be able to protect himself from overthrow in Moscow?

All we have right now are questions, not answers. Why would Putin bet everything on his ability to overthrow Ukraine, only to ask his friendly neighbor to finish the job for him? Sure, Putin has lost his mind. But he seems to have lost it in an aggressively berserk fashion. So why is he trying to borrow another nation’s army instead of sending in more of his own? Putin may have given something away here.