idk what putin even hopes to accomplish tbh, even if he absorbs all ukraine he has
1. tons of other nations who will most likely be accepted immediately into nato
2. a bitter and costly and ruinous insurgency lasting years if his cobbled together decrepit empire lasts long enough unlike the last one he creams over in his sleep
3. impending hardship and inability for expansion or economic growth with nearly all the world hating your guts and the rest quietly humming in the corner not wanting to be seen as being too pro-you.
he should know all about failed invasions and poor logistics since hes such a soviet fanboy that was their entire claim to fame that wasnt all the bitter embarrassments they suffered.
it means fuck you russia were joining the west and your crybully antics are pushing us further into their economic block. i actually dont think putin sees the value in that because i think people ascribed too much rationality to putin and assumed this was all about preventing ukraine from just being too buddy buddy economically with the west vs russia but i think its because hes still under the delusion that his granny of a nation state can actually pose a viable threat outside his aging nukes and thinks he can still wage world war and therefore needs to not be bordered by "hostile nations" and to capture strategic points to "thwart them".