The Russian situation is inexplicably weird. It seems like not too long ago they found out in Afghanistan how hard it is, impossible, to overtake and control a country whose people are willing and skilled fighters.
And, what I've been seeing about Putin seems analogous to what the US leadership did in Vietnam. He's hearing what he wants to hear from the generals he wants to hear it from, in the same way that our Presidents were fed misinformation about how well our invasion of Vietnam was proceeding. Which dragged it on long after its expiration date.
I think we're inching closer to Vlad being backed into a corner and seeing tactical nukes as the solution, he's definitely setting the table for it. Now we'll see if there's a palace coup, if his generals will seize power from him before he blows up the world. I think they will.
