Not just them, but Romania and Hungary.
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/02/is-it-time-for-ukraine-to-split-up/283967/
From the article you provided:
“I’m not arguing necessarily that Ukraine should split up. I am saying, however, that were it to split, were something like that to occur, and especially if those three problematic provinces—the two in the [eastern region of the] Donbas, Luhansk and Donetsk, and arguably even the Crimea—were to leave, Ukraine frankly would be better off.”
So, contra Pepe Escobar who advocates Ukraine being subsumed partly by Poland and partly by Russia, the author is in effect advocating something similar to the Elon Musk solution IF FEASIBLE.
STILL, a huge chunk of Ukraine with its capital in Kyiv remains a sovereign nation.