I guess it worked. The Ukrainian Army we saw in 2022 was not the same one we saw in 2014. My only question is, why didn't Zelensky mobilize his citizens when the Russians were moving their troops to Belarus before the invasion?
Not everyone agreed with the American assessment and Ukraine knew that once it was declared that the world’s second most powerful military that shares a border with them was going to invade, then the economy would collapse and the people be in turmoil and panic.
The economy was a huge consideration, if the invasion was declared prematurely or unnecessarily, then it would be catastrophic.
Luckily the election of President Trump had equipped them with enough weapons that Kyiv managed to beat off the attack on the capitol and gain some time to recover and fight on.
Because then there was hope to settle the matter peacefully until the US/UK put the kibosh to it.