The worst case scenario for Russia is appearing weak on the international stage.  I don’t think Westerners appreciate this.  It’s why Russia went through such extreme lengths in all its wars to deny and cover up its casualties – from having mobile crematoriums to destroy cadavers of fallen Russians, to assaulting and imprisoning Russian journalists who attempted to document the cost of war.  For this reason, they are constantly bluffing big, but playing small.
 
Examples from the 2014 invasion of Ukraine:
– they separately threatened Turkey, Sweden, Britain and the United States with nuclear war.
– they used paramilitaries to try to seize infrastructure in Kharkiv and Odesa, and when they failed, the Russians could claim they were local people. By contrast, where they succeeded – Donetsk, Luhansk, in Crimea, the irregulars received Russian military awards.
– they seem to have used mobile crematoriums in Eastern Ukraine to destroy cadavers.  Even some official US government sources cited this.- there were multiple videos and accounts of Russian journalists getting assaulted or narrowly escaping assault – several from Russian cemeteries with rows of fresh graves (likely of fallen soldiers).

Another thing they are accomplishing is chasing foreign investment from Ukraine.  Ukraine’s president complained about this last week.  And also stressing the NATO alliance.

Check out this essay about Russian propaganda which I wrote after observing the 2014 invasion and its aftermath.

“Nine Lessons of Russian Propaganda”

https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/nine-lessons-of-russian-propaganda