If I summarize what we saw today from Moscow, it was a smoke & mirrors show. Even Putin’s speech was a letdown, and I felt uninspired. He used fake news to justify the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. He didn’t do what the West was afraid of declaring conscription or a full-out war with Ukraine. He didn’t because he probably knew that he couldn’t. Declaring a war would have been a sign of failure of the “special military ops”. Conscription wouldn’t bring combat-effective resources soon enough anyway. Russia is simply failing at so many levels.

Again, for me, and probably for many military pundits, Russia is showing a pale version of its past. We shouldn’t be afraid of them. And we must keep the pressure on them so that when they lose, they will remember their losses for a long time.