This is what I've been pointing to since the start of this war. Opposite to NATO standard procedure in their wars of aggression, Russia has been taking serious precautions to spare not just the civilian population but also infrastructures as far as possible, and despite Ukrainian forces often hiding in or next to civilian amenities. Other than two or three instances of Russian troops committing crimes that can be considered as sufficiently documented (the scarcity of these suggests individual actions, not a policy from Moscow), there's close to nothing on this front Russia could be blamed for, at least in comparison the behaviour of NATO armies.
When it comes to killings of civilians in the town of Butcha, the most publicized crime attributed to Russia by the west, available information tends to incriminate the Ukrainian military and/or neo-Nazi reprisal units far more than Russian forces.
Mark my words, and I hope it won't come to pass, but there's a distinct possibility that Ukrainian reprisal units or the SBU would commit atrocities against Russian-speaking citizens in the areas recently invaded by Kiev, and pretend it was Russia's work. The risk is especially high if Russia succeeds in pushing back on Ukraine in the coming days and weeks, interrupting NATO's enthusiasm over recent gains made by their clients.
At any rate, it could be argued that by now, Russia might consider time has come to take off the gloves. If this occurs, Russian forces definitely ought to continue their efforts to avoid harming civilians. However when it comes to infrastructures and even political centers or Kiev regime figures, NATO regimes wouldn't be in a position to demonize Russia if it started targeting the latter.
