THE KREMLIN'S OCCUPATION PLAYBOOK
COERCED RUSSIFICATION AND ETHNIC CLEANSING IN OCCUPIED UKRAINE
This long read from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) makes it clear that the war in Ukraine is primarily a war for control of people, not land. This approach, linked to Russia’s demographic challenges, defines the centrality of identity in the conflict. “Putin seeks to make real his false ideological conviction that Ukrainians are simply confused Russians with an invented identity, language, and history that a small, Western-backed minority is seeking to impose on the majority of inhabitants.”
You can read the full report here
https://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/24-210-01%20ISW%20Occupation%20playbook.pdf