if you lose all the people and can hold onto two little pieces of land....what have you gained.
The thing is that Putin has cons said that Ukraine is an illegitimate country and should not exist as an independent state.
Giving up some land like Crimea or the DPR and LPR didn’t satisfy putin. He came back for more.
And he came back for all of Ukraine with his attack on Kyiv.
This is exactly the Sudeten situation all over again. The Ukrainians know that if they let Putin get away with it today then in 8 years he or his succeill be back to grab more land.