Why is Russia planning on phony referendums if it wasnt a territory grab?
Dunno ask them.
The long stated goals of the Russian SAP have long been made public. Of course, things may change once Ukraine is delivered the 300km HIMAR missiles in September. That said, the Russians have made clear that when such occurs, they will simply move and take more territory to compensate for that 300km. Again, all of that has long been made public and is easily found via a simple search.