Perhaps, but the weather change is recent, and perhaps the reports haven't convinced enough of the leadership that the weather is bad enough that stacking bodies won't overcome it.

But then again, a lot of the Russian big pushes have been of questionable war importance. There seems to be at least two more games being played in parallel (army & other internal politicking, but also non-military interest groups), probably even more.

Regardless of why, it seems clear Russia is playing for something different than Ukrainian annexation and genocide, but I've heard little credible analysis as to what it could be.

The most credible guess seems to be dreams of reinstating USSR/Russian Empire as a legacy after Putin, but this has so many holes and contradictions to previous actions that Putin's deathbed is one of the only plausible explanations. And the costs by now surely must have exceeded any indulgence of a dying leader?

Anyone wanting to succeed him must weigh the already decade long repercussions against his lifespan. And we're not very far off having enough deaths and ruined relations that it will define another Russian generation regardless of if they win the war or not.