I think Russia invaded to keep Ukraine out of NATO, protect ethnic Russians in Eastern Ukraine, and probably at least a bit because a short, victorious war is usually good for those in power.
If these were their goals, they probably want a rump Ukraine with a friendly government instead of directly ruling a bunch of hostile people in the western part of the country.
Fair enough, i also think they won't annex entire Ukraine, but for example Kharkov and Odessa and coast up to Moldova is also full of the Russian speaking population that protested against Maidan and always voted nearly same as Donbas - and annexation of those parts would be sensible for strategic, economic and political reasons.
My question is, do Russia even want to take big advances? They never do it even when opportunity arise.
I think Russia invaded to keep Ukraine out of NATO, protect ethnic Russians in Eastern Ukraine, and probably at least a bit because a short, victorious war is usually good for those in power.
If these were their goals, they probably want a rump Ukraine with a friendly government instead of directly ruling a bunch of hostile people in the western part of the country.
Fair enough, i also think they won't annex entire Ukraine, but for example Kharkov and Odessa and coast up to Moldova is also full of the Russian speaking population that protested against Maidan and always voted nearly same as Donbas - and annexation of those parts would be sensible for strategic, economic and political reasons.