Russia held its annual end-of-the-year townhall meeting. Although much of the discussion featured the standard claims of Russian strength, one topic of conversation does provide new insight. Today, we look at reconstruction going on inside of Mariupol, what that says about Russia’s expectations regarding the expected outcome of the war, and why it provides meaningful context where most other public declarations do not.0:00 Putin’s End of the Year Townhall1:50 Reconstruction in Mariupol3:23 Why This Is Different than Cheap Talk6:06 What Russia Thinks versus What Might Actually Be True