How Putin spent 20 years rebuilding Russia's military 'and then just simply destroyed it' in Ukraine, according to an expert who watched it happen

• Vladimir Putin has spent his two decades in power rebuilding and reforming Russia's military.
• That force has been "shattered" in Ukraine, said author and Russian security expert Mark Galeotti.
• "He spent 22 years building a military structure and then just simply destroyed it," Galeotti told Insider.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin assumed power in 1999, the Russian military had gone through a decade of post-Soviet decay.

Over the next 20 years, Putin and his military leaders rebuilt that force into one capable of a range of operations around the world, with advanced warships and aircraft and well-armed troops — all backed up by the world's largest nuclear arsenal.