This seems an apposite moment to quote a masterful post by Travis Mcgee
Travis: I hope I am not doing violence to the sense of your post.
Quote follows:
How long did it take us to "have" all of Afghanistan and Iraq? SHOCK AND AWE! A matter of weeks!
But our "control that was country-wide was only a millimeter deep, like morning dew. "Control" that disappeared every moment an American gun barrel was not aimed at a piece of ground. Every night in Kabul, for example, for 20 years, the Taliban ruled, not us. Our bases were forts, where Americans only sallied forth in armored convoys with air cover. For 20 years.
How are those glorious super-fast "victories" looking, 20 years out? Instead, Russia is "digesting" what it takes, kilometer by kilometer. Incorporating it. Allowing the civilians to get Russian passports. Paying unpaid Ukrainian salaries and pensions. etc.
If you want to compare our super-fast "glorious victories" in Iraq and Afghanistan to Russia in the Donbass, the true test of success will take a few years to evaluate.
Honest observers give no extra points for rapid "shock and awe" victories that evaporate like morning dew. What counts is who is running the place 10 or 20 years later, without needing forts and checkpoints and attack helicopters to dominate every grid square at gunpoint.
Hope this was useful.
US evicted the Taliban from Kabul in two months. Russia has taken 20% of Ukraine after six months. Lets be honest, nobody thought the Russians would be invading for six months.