We now know the Russian army was poorly trained and their weapons were poorly maintained and not adequately upgraded.

Let's say stuff escalates and a crazed Putin does a massive first nuclear strike on the US.

Then we discover that Putin's nuclear weapons are also poorly maintained. His nuclear forces are not well trained. Many missiles blow up in their silos, this would be devastating in a sub. Other missiles just go off course. Many do not detonate.

The upshot is the US loses a couple of cities, but Russia is massively devastated. All major cities are leveled and the majority of the population is killed.

Even though Putin started the nuclear war, Russia is seen as a victim because the damage to the US and Russia was so lopsided.