I would say that by the standards of those with whom I work, my skills are rudimentary. Then I worked with a U.S. government agency consulting a foreign government on radar and realized how really poor their skills were. From what I know of Ukrainians, and it is only second and third hand, I believe that they are vastly talented and patriotic, but I cannot dismiss the possibility that you may be correct.
Yep, the Ukrainians are Slavs, just like the Russians, which means that they have very smart and very productive people, at an individual level (along with really hot women). As to their legendary corruption, that may just be a legacy of the Soviet years, when corruption meant stealing from Moscow.
In any case, what Ukraine does not have are the assets needed to effectively target Russia and avoid Russian defenses...that’s why I’ve been convinced that just about every significant action they take is directly orchestrated by NATO, and especially the ones deep inside Russia.