Why aren’t the Russians using better soldiers or equipment in Ukraine?

Russian forces seem to be using old or outdated equipment during their invasion of Ukraine along with poorly trained conscripts. Some have suggested that the Russians use these troops as cannon fodder before elite troops engage. Others have considered this to be a Maskirovka or “deception“ and Russia is holding its elite troops in reserve to take on NATO. I served an an OPFOR or “Opposing Force“ unit in Germany in the 1990’s and we used Russian equipment and tactics to train NATO forces. The Russian way of war is to probe until a weakness is found and then exploit that breakthrough. So I think that the poor state of training and equipment in Russia is a function of what Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld illustrated when he said: “You go to war with the army you have, not the army you want or wished to have.“ This is an army that isn’t well trained or equipped due to budget shortfalls and now they are running into the power of mode