You are right that the Russians have shown the world that their conventional military was not the juggernaut that was once so feared. They have also demonstrated to the Chinese that they are unable to defend Siberia and their rich underpopulated Far Eastern/ Pacific territories. Without nuclear weapons Russia would be much smaller. Putin made a catastrophic strategic mistake invading Ukraine and he strengthened the globalists considerably.
Russia has not produced a new nuclear weapon or reprocessed an old nuclear weapon since 2017. In five more years their nuclear weapons will be measured in the dozens if not just a few.