>

the effects of making it up is hilarious when you take a step back.
Russia: "... and you see we- we have super high tech AI nuclear cannons! take that western capitalists!"
Biden: "mother of god, get me in touch with the DoD, tell them they're getting another 10 trillion"
and then twenty years later the US shows up to the battlefield with their gundam/death star hybrid just to face off versus some cardboard cutouts
Have you tried... like... dunno... providing everyone with a toilet instead? For a good start? >

They have.  That's the reason all the soldiers were taking toilets in occupied Ukraine.  It's an awfully expensive way to provide toilets though. >

They stole toilets? >

They stole toilets. >

Note to self; I should leave an upper-decker if I’m ever fleeing a Russian invasion. >

Easy to announce.  Not so easy to implement. Seems like the “announcement” is probably the entire plan here. >

Step 1) announce new weapon
Step 2) have a press conference where a diagram of said weapon is "accidentally" photographed
Step 3)
Step 4) look more tough again
So Russia is -roughly- 50% there, or 60%-75% depending on how tough they ALREADY look >

Insert “spend the little money they do have and 10 years developing the weapon leaving no money to produce it” in there and it will be golden.
Every new weapon system they’ve boasted about has had a couple of prototypes built, and then actual serial production just breaking single digits.
Half of their SU-57s are prototype models converted to serial production specs. >

And all of them sent to Siberia where they're nice and safe and not in harm's way... Bc they're so combat capable... >

The threat of using a weapon has a greater impact than using the weapon itself, and that’s the one thing Russia understands because they been doing that for the last 20 years.
Granted that will only get so far and that’s why nobody really sees their “5th gen fighter” as a threat because they know Russia will never use it. >

Well, in this case, no one worries about Russia using one of their maybe-half-dozen modern fighters. >

Umm, how?
They can't even make the basic supplies for their soldiers, but modernizing their nuclear forces is doable? >

Version A: Their entire military is based on weapons that destroy half a continent so they didn't care about everything else
Version B: Corruption >

Version C: They just make it up.