This article (Why Putin has nothing to gain in the Ukraine-war) is the translation of a german blog-entry (deutsch).
What does Putin want in the Ukraine? – This is pure speculation.
Putin obviously wants to occupy Ukraine, but what is to follow? Will he try to hold the country for years with occupying troops? Does he want to station his nuclear weapons there? Does he want to commit genocide or deport all Ukrainians? Or put them into prisons because they call a war what it is? – Because they’re obviously all against him and are risking their lives.
With what horror he wanted to keep them at bay now, when they already have to experience every horror. Is his idea that he could return to the agenda after the conflict and then proclaim a “Great Russia”? – It’s out of reach. He may be able to conquer the territory, but he can’t conquer the people. What does he want with the country? Russia has enough untapped territory. Russia could have joined the EU one day as an equal partner, but that is now unimaginably far away.
„Ukraine“ – that are living people
Read more (in English):
What does Putin achieve? – Pointless self-destruction
He is isolated by his actions: the world turns away from him. The EU and the world are united. He himself seems to have already achieved the opposite of his intentions by his actions. In time, this truth will also penetrate the consciousness of his fellow countrymen, past his propaganda. They can see the consequences if they want to visit their friends and relatives e.g. in Mariupol. Violence does not create justice. War and violence don’t make friends. What he sees as “strength” is not true grandeur.
The Enlightenment said that the ruler should be the first servant of his state. But Putin is just a selfish tyrant, a petty mind who humiliates himself and spreads the stench of a gutter with all the pomp of the Kremlin. Russia can only become great, if the state serves the people and not the people are forced to serve a state, which is besides corrupt to the core. It doesn’t need to look into any history, but forward into the future, for a better world. This war is also completely pointless for Russia.
No lifting of sanctions without withdrawal from Ukraine
Even to kill leading politicians won’t change this, because in a democracy the head isn’t that important. It is always possible to elect a new one, coming like a phoenix from the ashes. This is much different than in an autocracy. It’s the rule of the people, not of one man. Putin didn’t understand it so far.
If Russia not follows the resolution of the UN, and according to it draws its troops back, it has to be absolutely clear, that the sanctions on Russia will be not just long-term, but everlasting with no step back. And no (diplomatic) discussions about it. Crystalclear. A military victory of Russia will be a Pyrrhic victory for sure.