[ChuckNorris89]

>humans are not necessarily "cheap disposable units"

Putin and most of the Russian military doctrine would beg to differ.

[UncleMeat]

"Not necessarily."

It depends on the nation and their political situation.

[AnimalMuppet]

To what degree do you think that Russia's losses in Afghanistan led to the fall of the Soviet Union?

Since 1945, Russia hasn't shown that it can accept a war of mass casualties without political fallout. Russian military doctrine may say that it can, but Putin would be unwise to assume so.