Ukraine

i’m sure they wanted the world to believe that the force they’re exerting on Ukraine is but a fractional whisper of their “true power”,

When Russia invaded they used massive amounts of people and material, including naval and air support. It was very obvious that Russia came in force, to make Ukraine give up without a fight. They had several VDV forces attack Kyiv to capture Zelensky, and massive convoys of armed forces driving towards the city.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Kyiv_convoy

i do wonder just how much of their combat capacity they’ve dumped into invading ukraine.

They clearly attempted to display overwhelming power, and Russians have used everything they have, including their most expensive equipment and missiles. There is no doubt that early on, Russia tried to win a quick and decisive victory with overwhelming force. And they have continued to apply as much pressure on Ukraine as they possibly can.

The only options they have left that I can see, is to either use nukes, which is unlikely because the consequences would be devastating for Russia too, and the other is to push more cannon fodder on the front lines.