In addition, the Russian state's financial stress and military weakness and the demographic decline of its core Russian population make its future in current form questionable. Putin's invasion of Ukraine is both an imperial bid for territory and an effort to counter Russian demographic decline by annexing an ethnically similar populace that can be gradually "Russified."
Many American conservatives do not seem willing to understand that Putin's and Russia's objectives in the invasion of Ukraine are not amenable to a compromise peace based on territorial concessions and security guarantees to Russia by NATO and the US. The Ukrainians know otherwise -- which is why they are fighting instead of suing for peace.
If it works, Putin will end up adding 20 million (declining birthrate and emigration by Ukrainians to the West) to the Russian Federation, not 51 million taken during the last census during the Soviet Union.
100% correct on both accounts!