This makes me think that a great deal of people are operating with the psychological equivalent of a lobotomy

that's what you get when you channel multi-layered propaganda at a population from every angle in the information age. the ability to not only plant an idea in someone's head, but to convince them that it was their idea in the first place. when russia achieves their objectives in this war the western narrative is going to be "yeah but putler has egg on his face and had to commit atrocities to win" as though that has a material impact on the outcome