I don't know how significant it is. Dictatorships have always been feared and despised. And armies lost motivation many times in history, before the internet.
From a military perspective what I think is different this time is how (probably) US intelligence is helping Ukrainians. It seems they know any Russian move in advance in real time and I doubt such a feat could be pulled in the past.
While it is still a bit unclear to me at least why Russia sent their seemingly old gear without proper support and young conscripts in first, the terrible parachute attempts still stand out.
When you want it to be over quickly, you have to send in the best soldiers with the best gear first to seal the deal?
In addition to live NATO intelligence, it is clear to most europeans that US intelligence tried to warn about this at the start of December, with photos showing large preparations for heavy army movement all around the Ukrainian border.
Why send not the best, brightest and most advanced? Because you only jump as high as you need. And using your most sophisticated gear in an area that is most likely covered NATO detection gear and consultants / advisors doesn't sound to smart neither.
To use them as cannon fodder to see what military capabilites Ukraine has been given by the West?
I recently learned their economy is as big as the Benelux. What a joke for a "world power".
Their elite spetsnaz got captured, the elite chechenians got annihilated before they could move a finger. No supplies, soldiers are uninformed, ... .
5 days of war, no major city captured, no air control, no cut in communications, electricity, ... .
They got nukes, yes, it seems that's basically all. If they are as good as the rest, they might even explode before they leave the surface ;).
1.Russia doesn't have much new gear and 2. the old at least works reliably in the field. Russia for example backed down from gas turbines in tanks (like T-80) because of poor reliability and high maintenance (and maintenance is always a huge issue in Russia)
> without proper support
that is the best Russia can. Support and logistics has always been an issue.
> and young conscripts in first
the young people grew during Putin's Russia and they are much easy to make them kill Ukrainians.
> you have to send in the best soldiers with the best gear first to seal the deal
that were the ones who were dropped on the airfields near Kiev in order to capture them and thus facilitate coming of the next wave of the best - the Pskov's 76th paratroopers - who were to flew in. The capture of any of the airfields failed.
The ground attack, even by the best of the best, was too slow to make to Kiev for the "Czechoslovakia 68" plan to work.