It's not the 1950s. Stalin is dead. Russia is not fighting this war to annihilate Ukraine. They want to restore a supplicant government loyal to Russia, and keep funding them to that effect. Same playbook they're using in the rest of their satellite republics. If Russia was in fact waging some kind of imperialist war, wouldn't they have annexed more resource rich neighbours that the world cares so much less about? Like Belarus, or Chechnya? Look at those countries. Russia pours money on them to keep them neutral. That's the alternative.