No they werent
It’s only taken them 780 days
Oh and Russia currently occupy 60,000 sq KMs less than they did in March 2022
The only reason they’ve been able to dominate in recent weeks is because Republicans have blocked the $60b support.
The Russians are always slow to start up but once they get going they don't look back i.e. WW2. It's not how you begin but how you finish. The americans defeated the Taliban straight up and declared victory post 9-11 only to be running with their tails between their legs 20 years later - humiliating.
This is still a hot war, so given, it can still go either way. The lines have been very stable since 22 though and the Uki counter attacks have been nothing short of a blood bath. The concern is the Russians are going to launch another offensive this summer and the morale is a lot higher than on the other side.
The strategy is also different. The US approach is drop bombs, then take over the cities and build walls, sell freedom and watch them line up at McDs. The Russians are wiping out cities and purging them of people - what this means is the land they do take, is
entirely theirs, unless the other side can get it back.
The Americans becoming more and more reticent is a ominous sign. We are entering a multi-polar world and the US is losing more control each year. But it is also loosing cause because its liberal ideals are not working - for it. It has done anything but make people happier, if anything, its had the inverse effect.
It is a downward spiral. The US of today is vastly different than US on 9/11 - it is noticeably weaker, worn out, ideologically failing, and the world is moving on.
Also, social media and gen z are all too privy to what their leaders are getting up to and are not having it which is also forcing Biden's hand. There is a substantial shift and the West is in a transitionary period which makes this a very dangerous period as others clamour for the pie.