Russia's military will have to be rebuilt because of the war in Ukraine.
One expert told Insider that the war has changed the perception of Russia's military power.
There are rare examples of dissent in Putin's regime.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has devoted a lot of time and money to modernizing his country's military. Putin gained a reputation as a force to be reckoned with and was seen as one of the most powerful leaders in the world.
Russia experts and military analysts told Insider that the war in Ukraine has decimated the Russian military, while raising questions about Putin's hold on power.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been a strategic loss. The Kremlin hasn't been able to achieve its objectives so far and has spent a lot of money. George Barros is a military analyst with the Institute for the Study of War.
In the past six months of war in Ukraine, the ground force created by the Kremlin to create a modern military has mostly been destroyed. The conventional Russian ground force has been badly beaten in Ukraine. It will need to be repaired.
US military estimates put the number of Russian casualties as high as 80,000. Generals have been among the dead.
The Russian officer corps is going to have a long-term strategic impact on the net assessment for Russia's conventional military, according to Barros.
The Russian leader in August ordered the military to increase its ranks by 137,000, an ambitious goal seen by some as unambitious and one of many signs that the Russian.
According to a recent intelligence update from the British defense ministry, the elite 1st Guards Tank Army and other Western Military District units have suffered heavy casualties. It will probably take years for Russia to rebuild this capability, according to the ministry.
The Russian military has seen the destruction and abandonment of equipment in Ukranian. Thousands of armored vehicles have been lost in the war. The Russian military has had to pull Soviet-era equipment out of storage due to the losses.
Russia's military is considered to be the second most powerful in the world, behind the US.
Robert Orttung, a professor of international affairs at George Washington University, told Insider that Russia's poor performance in the Ukraine war will change the assessment of its military strength.
He said that the Russian military isn't as powerful as he thought.
A few years ago, Russia appeared to be winning the war in Syria and it provided a major boost to Moscow's propaganda about its military strength.
"A lot of their ability to make their propaganda effective was based on their battlefield prowess, which seemed to be quite strong in place like Syria." It's going to knock them down because they're not able to achieve their goals. Their propaganda will be less effective because they haven't been winning in the field.
Russia was expected to conquer the city in a few days. Western-supplied military equipment helped the Ukrainians put up a much stronger resistance than they anticipated. Russia's forces failed to take the Ukrainian capital and instead focused on the east. Russia made gradual progress in its campaign to take over the Donbas, even though a war had raged in that region between Kremlin-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces for the past three years.
In the past few days, the Russian forces have been pushed into retreat by a counteroffensive by the Ukrainians. The Ukrainian government said it has regained over 3000 square miles.
Russia's forces are on the run and Putin is in a precarious position.
Abbas Gallyamov, a former speech writer for Putin, told the New York Times that strength was the only source of legitimacy. In a situation in which he has no strength, his legitimacy will begin to fall. If Ukrainian forces continue to destroy the Russian army, then it could accelerate calls for Putin's successor to be chosen, according to the Times.
Putin's regime is in danger according to some Russia watchers. Michael McFaul was a former US ambassador to Russia. The beginning of the end for Putinism in Russia is here.
Taking a potentially fatal risk, local Russian lawmakers are calling for Putin to be removed from power due to his history of squashing dissent. The propagandists on Russian state media are struggling to give a positive assessment of the war.
"You're starting to see discontent with his leadership and a realization that the war is not going in Russia's favor." The developments raised question marks about Putin's image among the people and his ability to exert that image of competence.
Orttung is not convinced that this is the end for Putin.
He said he wouldn't write off the man. He's going to leave power or he's going to die soon. He has a lot of strengths, the main one being that he's eliminated any viable alternatives to him.
Everyone depends on him being in power for their own power, so it's not clear who would replace him. There is a stake in him that they have. Most of the elites think that they're probably better off with Putin there, as he survived more than 22 years fighting in a difficult environment.
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