I could understand if he didn't want to call it a war, I would also not call it a war if I were him, for legal purpose. But if it is true that Putin underestimated Ukraine, that would be stupid. Just from paper, Ukraine military probably among the top 20 in the world. Russians should have known that better. After all, it inheritted significant soviet armaments, and they have huge military personnels. I'm not surprised if Russian military also rife with corruptions. I think it has been going on for years, even before Putin. The problem with autocracy is that it is hard to correct this kind of disease since there is lack of check and balance.