a high up in the Russian military

Why this specifically? Oh, right, because the narrative actually was widely peddled by Russian propaganda and its closest ally Belarus/Lukashenko: https://x.com/nexta_tv/status/1498185064617762816 ("3-4 days at most")

So you have to raise the standards in order to save Russian propaganda from its own arrogance and delusions. Nice try, but no.