This right here. I have always wondered the question why Russia doesn't unleash total destruction on Ukraine; set the whole thing on fire and, nukes ready, dare the West to do anything about it. Any image of brotherhood should be over by now. And one of the things that recently became apparent is that the Ukraine war and sanctions on Russia cascaded into the fall of Credit Suisse and the de-dollarization movement. Really, the West's only strength is that it controlls much of global funding and banking; it uses that to exploit greed and rob talent from other nations because homegrown Western talent is typically abysmal. I've been almost superstitiously too giddy to say that connection out loud like it might jinx it. If Russia draws this war out leading to the collapse of Western control over the global financial institutions before turning on the afterburners to take out Ukraine, this would be like a 10D Chess move. America's dollar supremacy is Samson's hair. Had America known that this would be on the line, it wouldn't touch this conflict with a tightrope pole. America would rather nuke Ukraine itself and give Europe to Russia than lose dollar supremacy.
The war is being drawn out but I don't think this is a 10D Chess move against western economies.
Just look at the minimal losses (and use) of the VKS. Russia is holding in reserve, and the answer is simple historical wisdom learned from experience in other wars.
In the Korean war, American forces stretched their lines to the limit and attacked civilians wildly, hoping to quickly collapse the north Korean lines. This was achieved to some degree, but it also meant that most NK troops had merely ran away and survived, and when a highly organized reinforcement army hit the US lines and regrouped the NK, American forces collapsed and lost all their gains in a matter of weeks.
If Putin advanced using the entirety of Russian forces, a similar situation would likely play out once NATO armies enter into Ukraine (and they would, NATO has already broken their self imposed red lines multiple times, the only reason they're not doing a volunteer army now is because there is no clear weakness to exploit).
In the current situation, Russia is trading very favorably in terms of manpower, and it's the west that foots the bill for equipping Ukraine. If NATO sends their units, it will be viewed as an unacceptable escalation, and the Russians are dug in well enough that they can hold for months or years against NATO if needed, buying time for mobilization as well as lethal aid.
And even though VKS is weak compared to USAF or PLAAF, nearly the whole VKS held in reserve means that even with full US invasion, air supremacy will not be achieved in a long time.
