I'm sorry, notaglobalsuperpower says what? Because until Russia invaded Ukraine, Russia had convinced most of the world, including itself, that it was a near-peer to the US like China. Most people in the west and elsewhere, myself and putin included, expected Russia to completely steamroll over Ukraine in a matter of days to weeks.

... But then we got to watch as they paradropped elite troops into the middle cities, forgot that tanks needed infantry support, experienced logistical failures a mile from the border, started depleting stockpiles that were supposedly much deeper, and began conscripting undesirables for a meatgrinder ...

Russia is big and has a lot of nukes, people, and equipment: but it's no soviet union. If the new narrative is that the third largest power on the planet is equal to Italy and that somehow makes you feel better: sure.

Russia indeed has a small economy if converted into dollars, but not if the internal price of goods and services is considered. This is because the conversion only works for economies that are well connected and comparable.

This is doubly true for military matters which are very illiquid, and even more so given the sanctions Russia is facing. The measure you are looking for is called purchasing power parity adjustment, or "GDP (PPP)" for short. It is hard to compile though.

No need for "hmm", just readily available knowledge in economics.

In addition, Ukraine is only supplied by NATO insofar the politics of its member states allow.

I guess you can do allot when you don't care about your own people and you have oligarc piggy banks to crack. Also when you have mercenary armies across the globe holding on to gold mines.

My guess is that before the war, russians were not suffering as much and oligarcs were getting richer.