Putin caused all this by:
- Waging a "brother war" instead of a normal war
- Committing pathetic numbers of troops
- Like a clown sending the initial wave of attacks in isolated convoys farther away than its logistics could catch up (kool-aid about Ukraine surrendering)
- Idiotic big push towards Kiev, then retreating, which gave Ukraine a massive morale boost
- Pathetic day 0 missile/air attacks to knock out critical infrastructure and the Ukrainian Army while it was in the barracks
- Left the Ukraine/NATO-EU border open which allowed foreign aid to come (Sun Tzu stuff here..)
- Pathetic Russian Air involvement in the first weeks
- Drunk his own kool-aid on Ukraine capitulating.
- Didn't properly siege cities (not cutting off electricity/fuel/water/food)
- Took the war like its a game and not like a serious thing
- Etc.
The list is endless. Most of the mistakes are directly attributed to Putin and his decisions. If there is one culprit for the underperformance of the Russian military, its Mr. Putin himself. Let's see who he is going to throw under the bus for this mess.
While I am pro-Russia that doesn't mean I am blind. Its simple, Putin messed up on this war.