But it did achieve the actual goal, which is that it created a cloud of confusion where a lot of money was moved around and huge amounts wound up in the private pockets of oligarchs, who laughed while hundreds of thousands died.

You hit it on the head. The unmarked vans, unbadged troops, people “disappearing”–those were their practice drills and how they’ll do it. Uniformed troops will also be used in some situations (like the mass deportations), but the ones doing the daily dirty work against any demonstrators, specific political targets, etc. (“the enemy within”) will be those incognito forces. 😧