Exactly this. Anecdotally: Russian outdoor equipment has gotten seriously acceptable in the past few years, and that's not a bad proxy for their military gear.

Exactly this. Anecdotally: Russian outdoor equipment has gotten seriously acceptable in the past few years, and that's not a bad proxy for their military gear. Laugh all you want, but ten years ago, I wouldn't have trusted Ivan to build a tent that didn't (a) weigh several tons; and (b) fall over in a light breeze. Looking at the gear they're fielding, they're maybe a generation behind NATO on everything except NVOs (the US is 2-3 generations ahead there), and the Russian military has massively more inland combat experience than anybody else in Europe save the French, and likely as much UW/FID experience as the US. Difficult to assess where Russia lies in terms of training and tactics given all the noise, but they appear to be far more competent than I expected. People are seriously underestimating what Russia can bring to the table, sort of like how folks laughed at the strides made by Chinese manufacturers.