“The Russians are fighting a 20th century war against a 21st century Ukraine.”
Exactly. The Russians were all set for a reenactment of the Battle of Kursk with set piece armor-vs-armor engagements which would have heavily favored the Red Army.
The Red Army expected the Ukrainians to respond to a textbook Soviet tactic with Soviet tactics.
The Ukrainians having spent twenty years training with NATO had moved on from the Soviet school of thought that prevails at the Combined Arms Academy (Frunze) and they didn’t respond to the invasion the way Russia wanted them to.
In head to head combat Russia would have annihilated the Ukrainians and the Ukrainians very maturely put their Slavic ego on the backburner and chose to employ all manner of asymmetric tactics against the Orcs.
And Russia has beaten itself bloody against the Ukrainian anvil.
The Russian Army expected Zelensky to soil his panties, grab as much wealth as he could carry, and hightail it out of Dodge City. President Putin didn't realize the Globalist Cabal would never let Zelensky leave the Ukraine and destroy their evil plans for the Global Great Reset.