even after an elaborate ceremony and ask though declaring them to be an eternal part of the russian federation. and yet, still the longer russia occupies even a part of them, the greater the chance that it will get to keep that territory in any eventual peace settlement. then, at the other end of the spectrum, the maximum definition of the russian victory would be their taking control of the whole of ukraine, including the capital kyiv, replacing president zelensky�*s government, seizing all those expensive western weapons and inflicting a massive humiliation in the west. so, if this war does wind up with the result anyone within those two boundaries, the minimum and maximum definitions, then russia could still declare it as a victory. so, does this mean that a long war inevitably plays into putin's favour? let's ask professor sam greene who is an expert on russia with kings college london.