(It is not impossible. Putin has put himself forward as the protector of Christians in the world and seems to feel he needs the Orthodox Church to help keep Russia together. The Patriarch is pushing pretty hard on this.
We can only know a year or two down the line. We will see what History says. It might make Putin a savior or a scoundrel. Or it might make Obama the bad guy or saint. We can only sit back and see how it sorts out—BUT Russia will need more ground troops.