The Russians lacked the competanc even to secure a nation such as Finland, where no standing military seemed capable of doing much to stop so great an entity as Stalin and his Red Army.

While Russia would have the benefit of T-34 medium tanks, this is diminished by their insistence of spreading these thin and not permitting radios in all vehicles.

The Russians would face a determined and well-trained Rumanian Army, a competant, veteran Finn Army, and a massive German-Italian war machine with potential allied backing. It would have been a disaster for Stalin. And the free world, since Germany could hide behind its status as "saviour of Europe".