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Russia doesn't have the logistical power to have an occupational force. They need to implement a strawman government and hope that the military falls into place.

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Russia has the Donbass separatist militias, which would make for a perfect occupation force - they are ideologically motivated, but also, they know that they'll be treated as traitors by any Ukrainian state with more than a semblance of independence.

You gonna need to explain how a region with a population of 2 million will occupy a country with a population of 44 million.

Many of those 44 million will become refugees in Europe. And some - not many, but probably at least a couple million more - will support the occupying forces.

Authoritarian regimes manage to keep their population in check with forces smaller than that.

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