The issue is that Russia simply cannot do this - certainly not fighting a colonial war (as opposed to war of national survival). Russia's economy won't support it, Russian state capacity is extremely limited, but Putin is also terrified of Russian popular opinion.
I don't blame him - he doesn't want to be the next Ceaușescu or Gaddafi and the odds don't seem to be in his favor at the moment. Being a dictator is a rough business. One minute you're meeting with Xi in Samarkand, the next minute, you're bleeding to death, naked in a ditch.
I didn’t realize “dictators” were elected