I know no one here is part of the Russian government, so I’m not expecting concrete answers here.
What I’m asking is simply what will happen if [well, when, at this point] The Ukraine ends up…falling, per se?
That’s a question in of itself really. Will Ukraine fight until the AFU collapses? Will there be a coup? Would a pro russian or neutral ukraine be established across all of what is currently the Ukraine, or will there be an attempt to make a “taiwan-ified” state in the west?
I expect that’s very likely the plan. Once Zaporozhye falls, I expect Odessa will be next and from there there’s a straight path to Transnistria. Russia is likely planning to exhaust the AFU in the north first, and take Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk) which will cut the logistics between the north and the south.