Taking in to consideration all the battles Russia and putin have been in, this one is a different playbook.
Either something is seriously wrong with putin, or the analysis and misinformation is seriously off..
Objectively, I'm going with the latter.
Decades of and dozens of people considering him a stone cold killer, strategic, surgical, the background of putin led attacks, this build up, and this is the "result"? Color me skeptical with what we're seeing.
(Though I do hope I'm wrong)
I also believe that putin does feel at wits end and frustrated with decades of trying to be a "serious" country, and no one accepting him/ Russia into those circles. If anything, I'd agree, he's "tried" but only gets egg on his face from the west. We (the west) don't accept him because (I think) for only petty reasons: he's not the west, him and China make a good boogeyman, irrespective of his attempts and possible merit. Right or wrong.
In layman's terms, the west has two circles, the west and those who dont kowtow/ enemies. Russia/ China, get lumped into the same group as the rest. They're in a different realm in my opinion, but that's not how they are treated.
Also, I do find it ironic that the ballsiest leaders in nearly two decades have been people the media/ bureaucracy/ west has shown 0 respect towards. Again, right wrong or indifferent.