That makes little sense. Even if I think that I "don't need to" do something, I'm still going to do it. You always have Plan B, especially if your Plan A is a highly unlikely to succeed coup de main.
"Because we are too nice to fight seriously" or "we fight using anime rules where we purposely fight using a lower power level, then, when we lose, we "get serious" and unlock our full power level" makes a lot less sense than simple arrogance.
There's being arrogant and there's being stupid. Surely, the Russian high command is smarter than a "Reddit moderator", since you assured me that I am very stupid for being one (in the past)?
I don't have a strong position on either side of this debate, but I do have to side with u/dekachin on this point. Russia almost certainly didn't want this war to drag on as long as it has, and they almost certainly thought they could wrap it up in a month or two at most.
I think people underestimate just how much corruption there is in the Russian government. There are stories of millions of dollars (technically, rubles) being allocated to projects within the government and not one cent of it actually ending up being used for it's intended purpose. Just like China and North Korea, a significant amount of Russia's military "might" is exaggerated and for show. Corruption and incompetence are hallmarks of practically every authoritarian government, and Russia is no exception.
It's just not believable to me that Russia is actually hyper-competent and has been holding back all this time.
That said, I still think Russia is a huge threat if for no other reason than the sheer number of nuclear warheads they have at their disposal. Even if only 10% of those warheads actually work, that's still enough to destroy a hemisphere. Combined with the potential mental instability of the man in charge, and this is a recipe for disaster unlike the world has ever seen.
I don't have a strong position on either side of this debate, but I do have to side with u/dekachin on this point. Russia almost certainly didn't want this war to drag on as long as it has, and they almost certainly thought they could wrap it up in a month or two at most.
I think people underestimate just how much corruption there is in the Russian government. There are stories of millions of dollars (technically, rubles) being allocated to projects within the government and not one cent of it actually ending up being used for it's intended purpose. Just like China and North Korea, a significant amount of Russia's military "might" is exaggerated and for show. Corruption and incompetence are hallmarks of practically every authoritarian government, and Russia is no exception.
It's just not believable to me that Russia is actually hyper-competent and has been holding back all this time.
That said, I still think Russia is a huge threat if for no other reason than the sheer number of nuclear warheads they have at their disposal. Even if only 10% of those warheads actually work, that's still enough to destroy a hemisphere. Combined with the potential mental instability of the man in charge, and this is a recipe for disaster unlike the world has ever seen.