Putin invades countries that he perceives as militarily ‘weak’. In the Ukraine case, he wanted the FSB (KGB) to agree with his logic that they were easily defeated, and no one really argued with him.
One odd fact at this point. If you tally up the losses of helicopters, fighters, artillery, APC’s, fuel tankers, and tanks...with the current GDP situation, it’ll take 20-odd years to restore them to the 2021 level of capability. Add to it...the Oligarch crowd taking their 25-percent ‘cut’ of the military fund.
“Add to it...the Oligarch crowd taking their 25-percent ‘cut’ of the military fund.”
Silly me, I thought this was a discussion about Putin & Russia, then in the last sentence, I see you are talking about the United States.