>>1545391OP,I know this is partially off-topic,but this conflict comes down to military needs and the desire for a quick cash grab.Putin doesn't decide everything he's usually just a spokesperson for the elites,he doesn't rule everything single-handedly(although he has power to do so),Kremlin has "towers"of influence,Crimea occupation had happened because military faction was not decisive enough at the time of 2013 to fully make a decision of full invasion in Ukraine,war faction lost and they were suggested a compromise,I don't remember exactly why they didn't like Kharkov pact but there were some concerns about fully owning a peninsula,so it was first mistake,had they started rolled through Ukraine back then,they couldn't be stopped.Then there was a lot of consequences - they lost influence in SBU(it got purged),took a largest blow in HUMINT,KGB influence sphere(which gave the US a lot of information on the inner workings of agent networks)and lost their puppets like AZOV battalion,radicals and nationalist realized that switching sides would be much more profitable.Then they made their largest mistake - when they prepared their plan of attack on Ukraine in 2018,US already sent a lot of equipment like radios and javelins to the AFU,and when they decided to execute the plan in 2021 I thought they were insane,with only half a million of troops they planned to execute of full occupation,I think they were thinking with their asses at the time or they were completely braindead,I don't know for sure,it didn't help that Putin by himself"suggested"to split frontlines into three - south,west,north, many people were against it,including me.With already low manpower it was such an idiotic task,Instead of putting competent people in leadership positions,they were chosen based on how"devoted"they were to the elites and Putin himself,so they put convenient people that listens orders from presidential administration in lieu of people who oppose dumb ideas from politicians.
