Putin does not care about the cost his going to go on as long as his alive. (I fucking hate Putin).
The Ukrainians are fucked unless the West sends in Ground Troops en mass that would mean WW III.
Putin quite shrewdly calculates that the West probably won't go to bat for Ukraine or The Ukraine (who the fuck cares about the "The") as in direct military support so his going to over a period of time annex the parts of Ukraine he deems should be Russian.
Like the Eastern and Coastal southern parts for example.
The Russians would want to have an overland bridge to Crimea so they are going to take the south coastal route and the Ukrainians are not going to be able to stop them.
Vice News:
https://news.vice.com/video/russian-...e-dispatch-101
It's pretty fucking depressing for the Ukrainians.