Yeah but… they seemed to not have realized that it would be THEM being used as cannon fodder. They thought they could just reap the benefits without having to lift a finger. It was going to be “repeal and then replace”, and then once they swallowed that line, it reeled them in when it was too late to pull back.

i.e. they were promised peace - the territorial expansion was only supposed to last 3 days and that hardly counted in their eyes - and did not realize that by having elected Putin, it was already too late.