But the Kremlin dropped the ball.

The Russians could have conquered the entirety of Ukraine in three or four days, hung the entirety of the government with or without war crimes trials just as the Americans hung Saddam Hussein, destroyed the entirety of the Azov neo-nazi force, and installed a puppet government that declared itself to be a demilitarized neutral state that will never join NATO or the EU.

Instead, what did the Kremlin do?  It committed itself to a limited operation that would drag on and provide endless opportunities for demonizing Russia and her leadership and placing Russia beyond the pale.

The first thing that the Kremlin did was to announce that it had limited intentions and forbade the Russian military from using heavy weapons in civilian areas. Once the Ukrainians heard this, the neo-Nazis ensconced themselves with their heavy weapons in the midst of civilian populations. Behind these human shields granted freely by the Kremlin the Ukrainians inflicted casualties on the Russians who couldn't fire back except with small arms. The Russian casualties sustained the Ukrainian resistance and the West's psyops war against Russia. Instead of presenting as a formidable military opponent, Russia was presented as barely capable of holding its own against the US and UK equipped and trained Ukrainian army. Some Western commentators predicted Russia's defeat.

The second thing the Kremlin did was to constantly put its war on hold while it negotiated,  pointlessly, with a government that did not control the country and could not act independently of Washington. The Western presstitutes presented the negotiations as Russia trying to find a way out of the war and sanctions.