The accounts match many other sources and especially the historical tradition of the Red Army and Tsarist armies before it.
Putin attempted to reform the Red Army in the 2000s. Most of the money was stolen, and he was forced to sack the only Defense Minister serious about reform because it annoyed the corruptocrats Putin depended on for support.
As a consequence, Putin has had to abandon any thought of applying a modern maneuver warfare approach and has fallen back to using cannon fodder in a war of attrition. My impression is that the Army commanders are simply going through the motions of attacking, which is why Prigozhin's Wagner Group was sent to introduce some competition. The danger of course is that with multiple military and paramilitary groups operating, Putin's death (natural or otherwise) could set off a civil war in Russia.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainians have acquired the ability to conduct some maneuver warfare and are waiting for a hard freeze to attack again.
“”The danger of course is that with multiple military and paramilitary groups operating, Putin’s death (natural or otherwise) could set off a civil war in Russia.””
That Wagner group could prove to be a problem.