>>507325179
This, more or less
Ukraine isn't the aggressor but they were still one of the most built up armies in Europe despite their relative poverty, and the fact that Russia is outproducing the entirety of NATO supplying them, along with French hardware failing spectacularly in the India-Pakistan conflict, is a watershed moment for the West clearly not being top dog or having their shit together anymore. Even mobilizing mass troops to Ukraine directly from elsewhere wouldn't entirely remedy this because the rearming efforts have been fucking pathetic and Russia has effectively fractured many Western states with Russophile politicians anyway. The unwillingness to escalate despite the invasion already being an escalation is also a major show of weakness.

People saying Russia won't recover after this are engaging in wishful thinking too. They'll have more resources and more territory, with more people from those territories they can mobilize to cover losses. Plus allied states like China are only getting stronger.