>>64145223

Wars like this haven't been clean 1v1's for centuries. Getting external funding is normal so I think OP's argument is still valid.

I disagree with the conclusion though. Russia is not broadly a professional military. They had a small professional core surrounded by a conscript army. Their idiosyncratic ideas about their military history, in conjunction with leftovers from the more competent Soviet Union, led all of us, including them, to believe they were professionals just because they were cosplaying in Soviet gear.

The reason Ukraine has been a fair fight is because it has been a fair fight. Their actual professional military was thrown away in "Ramirez, win the war!" bullshit missions in the first few weeks. In this case we have a citizen-militia army whose leadership is delusional enough to think it's a professional army.