Putin doesn't care about the cost. That's the power of dictatorships. They are ever willing to sacrifice millions for personal vanity and grandeur.
Just look at the Dugin boast. They feel completely vindicated. They pulled off Brexit. Now they are going to get the Trump turmoil they wanted the first time. They got Germany to commit economic suicide through environmentalism. They've won substantially in basically destroying the rules based order and rolling back democracy across the world.
