Russia “...willing to squander the lives and well being of their people in support of their wicked ends...”
And in what country has that ever NOT been the case?
Well I’d say the Russians refined it to an art form: 2 million dead in WWI, disputed but perhaps around 15 million combat deaths in WWII. Soldiers sent into combat with less than one rifle per man, unarmed human wave tactics, incompetent leadership, competent general officers slaughtered by the government on suspicion of disloyalty, etc. all because their government simply didn’t, and doesn’t, care a whit about their people