Can it simply be that eventually Ukrainians understand that the deal was always like I have described it in the previous post?
Ukraine is very diverse country. It still considers citizens of Crimea and LDNR of its own, but I'm pretty sure these are now hating Ukraine passionately. Especially after many, many acts of Ukraine bombing Donetsk in absense of any sensible military goal.
If the boys and girls from Kievan twitter hate Russia with passion, that is survivable.
> Can it simply be that eventually Ukrainians understand that the deal was always like I have described it in the previous post?
That still leaves my same question. If their understanding is the same as yours, why did they not surrender on day 3 as you said they should?
Could it be that Putin has activated their national identity by threatening them into collective self-defense?
And now that they have held their own despite being brutalized, do you think they will forget their achievements and hand over their lives to their attackers? Perhaps they have gained more self-respect than that. Perhaps they see themselves as more than just collateral damage in some great power struggle.
> Ukraine is very diverse country. It still considers citizens of Crimea and LDNR of its own, but I'm pretty sure these are now hating Ukraine passionately. Especially after many, many acts of Ukraine bombing Donetsk in absense of any sensible military goal.
Unfortunately there is no one to tell us what Donbas Ukrainians think, free of propaganda. But it will become clear soon enough.
For now all I have is this poll [1], conducted in January, which says a plurality of Donbas residents prefer to be part of Ukraine. I can't imagine that sentiment towards Russia has warmed since Putin's horrific invasion. In fact, polls say it's overwhelmingly negative [2,3], which is hardly surprising given Putin has destroyed these people's lives for no reason.
In the poll of [1], only 20% of LDNR pollsters are saying they want to be a part of Ukraine. The rest of the article seems to be working around that number, which represents the total failure of the Ukrainian state. They have lost Donetsk for good.
Perhaps they have indeed lost the small parts of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts that comprise the separatist republics. It's no reason to give Russia another inch beyond those, since the people in the remainder overwhelmingly oppose Russian control of their lands.
This poll also shows that people are overwhelmingly like to vote for the status quo.
The status quo for quite large part of that land is now "Russian military administration". That, combined with the fact that Ukrainian forces bomb civians such as the attacks on Kherson, allows Russia to try and keep it.
Ukraine is very diverse country. It still considers citizens of Crimea and LDNR of its own, but I'm pretty sure these are now hating Ukraine passionately. Especially after many, many acts of Ukraine bombing Donetsk in absense of any sensible military goal.
If the boys and girls from Kievan twitter hate Russia with passion, that is survivable.