Like in the 1980's when the USSR put their best fighters and special ops troops in Afghanistan and got their butts kicked by the Mujahedeen with U.S.-supplied Stinger missiles?

There was a time when the Russians were truly mighty - and in terms of nuclear weapons, they still are. But now...not so much. Their morale and level of training does not approach what it was in the days of the USSR.

Even worse, their ranks are rife with corruption...and when a military unit (and especially its logistics support) is infested with corruption, the combat effectiveness as a whole is significantly degraded. The attitude among both officers and enlisted become less of "let's fight for the Motherland" and more "I'm in this for me - wanna buy a shoulder-fired missile?"

That's one reason Russia's GDP is less than that of *Italy*.

Morale and sense of duty to country are every bit as important as having the best equipment - just ask our Vietnam vets. The Viet Cong's equipment wasn't nearly as good as ours and we had air superiority...but they eventually won.

So...no, I don't worry overmuch about Russia's troops or the equipment they sell (because their manufacturers and suppliers are subject to the same corruption). China, however, is a different story.