It was half assed because Putin Delusions of Grandeur had him believing it would be that easy. That the Ukranians would throw down the 6.5 Creedmores and run at the first sight of a Russian flag. Putin also had the Russian soldiers convinced they would be liberators and welcomed as heroes by the Ukrainians. None of this happened due to Russian miscalculations so they, who have more might and certainly will eventually take over the country, are having to up their game as it goes along, so to speak. Like I said earlier, the real pain in the ass for the Russians is going to come after they take over and have to deal with insurgents and the UU (Ukrainian Underground).
I think there's a lot of truth to your post. Look at how the Iraqis and the Afgans were early on and then later turned out to be a bitch to hold on to. Point being, if the Ukrainians are this stiff now, when it turns into an insurgency it is going to be a Russian nightmare. The Ukraine people look like Russians and speak fluent Russian. It's going to be hard to tell a friend from an enemy.
