Failure and collapse in war starts sometimes starts slowly, but it never remains a slow, predictable or containable process for long.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yljkjJds-NY
Also see Preston Stewarts video that came out today about the situation in Crimea.
The story probably wouldn’t reach the majority in Russia or the areas it controls though. It has to come from within, like going to the gas station and having to be in a long queue, or hearing an explosion nearby.
they might get a clue when they suddenly see a significant influx in the amount of military equipment and defensive structures in their neighbourhoods