I don't think they are going downhill at all. Everyone knew the eastern steppes would be a massive grind because of the topography, or lack thereof. Right now that's where russian soldiers go to die, whereas Ukraine is opening new fronts in Mali and Syria. The drones keep burning refineries and Sergei the Welder keeps lighting russian defense industry buildings on fire. Russia is a big country to bring down, but sure enough, it's going down.