The fact that all of this could have happened from the beginning goes right past them. Putin, to his own detriment went easy on them from the start because he wanted to finally force a negotiation. He was mistaken and now they have corrected that mistake.
In large part, yes, agreed.
"Going easy from the start"
Meanwhile, Russia was (1) bombing shopping malls during peak hours, (2) bombing apartment buildings, (3) bombing schools and hospitals, all within the first couple of weeks of the war, while Russian soldiers were gang raping 4 year old girls to death and executing civilians on CCTV surveillance cameras for no reason.
This is what happens when you take Russian copium seriously.