The problem with authoritarian style governments is they tend to overplay their hand, the people at the very top are only interested in surrounding themselves with "yes men" who will agree with whatever absurd plans that the leader wants because the alternative is they get replaced. This means the leader is often fed incorrect or at least incomplete information, we see it with Putin who has fired countless rounds of army generals who were unable to improve the battlefield and got smashed by Ukraine. China has not been much of a friend to Russia historically and they are simply allies of convenience at the moment, Russia has few other outlets to sell it's resources and China will buy them for dirt cheap. China is more interested in seeing Russia get progressively weaker and China will take land from Russia at the first opportunity.
On the other hand, in the 21st century, authoritarian governments, like those in Belarus and Russia, have eliminated all opposition by all means, including physically, have adapted the laws and constitution of the country to suit themselves, have complete control over the media space and therefore have ruled the country for decades, effectively like emperors under a slave system.
Having unleashed a war of conquest in Ukraine, the Kremlin has achieved the fact that for any word against the war, people are imprisoned without special investigation, allegedly for discrediting the army. They believe that killing civilians with cruise missiles, shelling populated areas with artillery and MLRS, and consistently turning them into ruins one after another, cannot be called a war. It is just a small special operation lasting three years, as a result of which more than 850 thousand Russian soldiers have already been killed and wounded and almost all of its offensive armored vehicles have been destroyed.
However, the Kremlin saw that such a war was already threatening the collapse of Russia itself and now they began to prepare citizens for its end, and regardless of the results of its end, to consider it a victory. At the same time, on the contrary, everyone who will speak out with a call to continue the SVO (special military operation) in Ukraine will be put in prison. It is impossible to resist the will of the father-tsar.
