Sunday quick hit. Russia could win if they go all out, but even that victory will now be tarnished.

 I don't know what Russian Battalion Tactical Group Commanders are thinking.

Seems like the whole lot (well alot of them anyway) should be fired on the spot.

The performance of Russian soldiers?

Not up to what I expected.  To say its been astonishingly bad is an understatement.  To surrender to farmers?  Beat cops? To have Special Ops Forces captured seemingly without firing a shot?

Never in my life expected such a thing.

After quite impressive performances in Syria, some country I forgot the name of, and the earlier fight in Ukraine where I read stories of Ukrainians having to E&E back to their lines dogging sentries, UAV and artillery fire...how armor was getting pulverized and resupply efforts were harassed all led me to believe that this would be accomplished in a week with an undetermined period to follow (the promise by Putin to not occupy the country left me wondering what the transition to withdrawing forces would look like).

But make no mistake.

If Russia gets its military leaders focused on goals then I still believe they can win this.  Easily too.  They're gonna break the hell outta the country.  Most major cities will be piles of rubble.  But a civilian population in a modern country can be broken.  Their will can be crushed.  Why?  Because modern societies aren't built to endure adversity.  Once the cameras leave and you're left with doing the day to day stuff just for survival --- along with fighting at night, you're talking about major league work.

Even if they go all out and win the fight, the victory will be tarnished.

Many will look at this win and remember the blunders. Russian military prowess will take a bigger hit than the bungled evacuation from Afghanistan (which the Pentagon gently pushed back on the White House and blamed them for some of the friction we saw on the ground).

Supposedly Russian forces are active in Syria now.  They need the win and they need to perform well or Russia will be seen as a paper tiger.

NATO isn't sparkling either.  The only country that will come out with a passing grade outta this thing will be China.

Why China?  They win because they chose not to play.