system
A chat on subreddit /r/NoStupidQuestions
human
This is a point that doesn't get enough emphasis. The entire Russian system, such as it is, is complete trash with no checks and balances on anyone other than the jockeying to be Putin's biggest ass kisser. Sycophants to Putin hold crucial positions everywhere through their personal loyalty to him, not because they have any ability to do their jobs well. These people are hugely corrupt, siphoning much of the money off and leaving their armed forces and industry operating with cheap, broken down equipment, made up lists of supplies that don't actually exist, etc.  


There are plenty of military reasons why they've failed, and some of them are also tied to the same complete lack of meritocracy anywhere in the country, but it's the abject corruption of their government and military officials that made this fiasco possible. And even now, no one will speak the truth, so here we are with them just murdering civilians daily for no military reasons at all because they won't recognize that this is already over for them, but have no way to "win" the war without just razing Ukraine to the ground.
gpt
I’m listening to season 10 of the Revolutions podcast with Mike Duncan right now. It covers the Russian revolution. What’s crazy is that the environment you describe is almost identical to the one that existed prior to the February revolution of 1917. Tzar Nicholas and his wife has filled the entire government with people that were loyal to them personally, but many of whom where completely unqualified for their positions. When World War I started, it did not go very well for Russia, and many blamed the Tzar and his corrupt and inept government. It didn’t help that they had lost the Russo-Japanese War a few years earlier, which most had believed would be an easy win. The parallels between Putin and the last Tzar are uncanny.