You might be correct to some degree. I suspect though, what played an even bigger role is that Putin and many of his higher ups, really seem to have believed th

You might be correct to some degree. I suspect though, what played an even bigger role is that Putin and many of his higher ups, really seem to have believed this would be a very easy invasion and their troops would be welcome like liberators. Just read the gloating pre-prepared "we won" article that was released accidentally [1], it really seems like they were believing their own propaganda. [1] https://www.economist.com/europe/2022/02/28/the-kremlins-propaganda-machine-is-running-at-full-throttle https://www.economist.com/europe/2022/02/28/the-kremlins-pro...