Are you suggesting they’re treating this like an NFL team treats an Exhibition Game?
I’m 72. Served 8 years, 68-76. One of the most lasting impressions I got from the time from when I was 17-18 was a comment (from some source I can’t remember now) was that the sole purpose of the US goal in Viet Nam was to show the communist bloc that the US was committed to an indefinite (maybe unwinnable) war for ‘democracy.’ That cost us 50K plus dead.
It’s really hard to divine motives with Russia and China, I think, but I wouldn’t put it past either to consider pulling-their-punches to protect any potential technological advantage they may think they’d have if they thought they could accomplish their goals with second-tier capability.
Where the proof will be seen is if a no-fly zone is established and whether Russia pulls in their latest double-digit SAM systems (S-300 and S-400s) to handle the no-fly policing - IMO, that’s why NATO has already said they aren’t going to do it.