Russian military thought and the Russian staff system are v different from how most Western militaries work...Gerasimov & Dunford are a very odd couple here. https://twitter.com/thejointstaff/status/1102619533427257344

The (P)Russian military staff culture actively screens for able officers to join the General staff - you join the staff (get the prized insignia) and lose your service branch loyalties. You become a member of an elite caste, cf Western staffs where you grit it out

Russian staff officers have often worked their way through higher HQs and finally to the General Staff. Along the way, all they have done is plan, plot, and run military operations. Actual field commanders are like foremen for any given project & very replaceable when they fail.

The Russian military system works in a defined culture esp one in which hierarchy works downwards. Hard to transpose to esp Anglo cultures where staff work is often avoided/derided whereas ‘dying heroically clutching the colours in a last stand’ is your real ambition

This translation of the March 2018 speech of General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, to the Russian Academy of Military Sciences is well worth reading to understand contemporary Russian thinking

https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/Army-Press-Online-Journal/documents/2019/Gerasimov-2019.pdf

"To paraphrase well-known philosopher Immanuel Kant, one can say that military science must become like a servant who goes in front of her mistress with a torch and lights the way for her, and not one who walks behind her and carries the train of her dress"

Noteworthy that the Russians have maintained the 'lampasse': the red stripes down the trouser legs indicating General Staff Officers. Even from Stalin in WW2, the Soviets' General Staff would have this elitist marking down to today.
Cf British Generals in well worn battledress.

The Russian defence budget covers multiple areas of the Russian economy apart from purely troops & kit. Also, the Russian military export trade - and Russia's reliability as an Ally - is a key part of the bargain. Plus Russia has (massive) strategic depth https://twitter.com/JohnBlaxland1/status/1334359953071427586

May be of interest re Russia's historic policies https://twitter.com/GrayConnolly/status/1076702510964862976