Vier Jahre später zahlt Russland immer noch für eine fatale Fehleinschätzung in der Ukraine

The past four years of conflict have exposed more than one faulty assumption, not least the previously widespread belief even among Kyiv’s allies that Ukraine would be too weak, too disorganized, to resist a full-scale invasion.

Likewise, the reputation of invincibility surrounding Russia’s vast military has also been dented.

According to research by one think tank, The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), when the Kremlin launched what it dubbed its “Special Military Operation,” it expected its forces to take control of Ukraine within just 10 days.

More than 1450 days later, that timeframe looks hopelessly naïve and has proved to have been a fundamental miscalculation that has taken a devastating toll in pain, destruction and bloodshed.

But not paying nearly enough.