#Ukraine success destroys #Russia claim to be a superpower https://nu.federati.net/url/287841

I think nuclear weapons and the willingness to use them / threaten to use them is currently the main thing that makes one nation "a superpower". Otherwise, the Taliban would be the superpower (having driven both the USSR and USA out of Afghanistan within the past 40 years).

Yes, I am aware that by that definition, North Korea is a superpower.

Having a significantly better and bigger conventional military than most other nations has to count for something. Until that military is tested in battle, one does not know how well or how poorly it will perform, but one already knows that nukes can bring unprecedented devastation ... and that nearly everyone gives nuclear-armed nations some leeway.

(In the case of Russia, I suspect their corruption problems are a big contributor to their poor battlefield performance, as is their top-down authoritarian organization.)