I was thinking about if Ukraine breaks up, what about the government and military pensions? How does that work?
Government and military pensions for the Russian side will be secured by Russia to make sure population is loyal. Pensioners and Russian veterans are the biggest supporters of annexation with Russia. Anyone with a business or property, especially Ukrainians and Tatars, will have it confiscated by the Kremlin mafia, to build hotels, brothels, and casinos.
Good question. I imagine there are lots of details like that to sort out whenever a country splits into more than one.
When the Soviet Union broke up my in-laws in the Eastern Ukraine lost all the money they had paid toward a Volga automobile after having paid the full amount over years and were awaiting delivery. My mother-in-law worked at a huge chemical plant and at times received no pay, or she received script of dubious value, or food staples. The transition from Russsian Rubles to Ukrainian Hryvnia was chaotic.
Today my mother-in-law receives a pension but it is not based on her specific work as a top engineer at the chemical plant. It is just a standard pension provided by the Ukrainian government.
My extended family of in-laws live in the Eastern Ukraine and are Russian speakers but they DO NOT want to be part of Russia.