"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has not altered his position that Ukraine's international borders must be recognized as they were when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said on Thursday."
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-701571
That's like saying the Ottoman Empire got humiliated and the Arab states keep expanding (22 states).
Now Putin might legitimately feel humiliated by USSR collapse but the NATO argument is just bogus. Did he also invade Georgia in 2008 because of NATO?
"Ukraine rejects Russia proposal that it adopt neutral status like Austria, Sweden"
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/ukraine-rejects-russia-proposal-that-it-adopt-neutral-status-like-austria-sweden/
Once the neutrality issue is resolved, the more complex hurdle for Russia in the negotiations will be withdrawal from Ukrainian territory. Withdrawing to pre-February 24 lines will result in Wikipedia and history books concluding that Russia lost a major war against Ukraine. Withdrawing from all...
"Tens of thousands of Syrians enlisting to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine war: More than 40,000 register to fight at Syrian recruitment centers as poverty and lack of jobs push soldiers to look for a better life; ‘from Ukraine, I plan to go to Europe’"...
If that's the case then I'm not sure why the Ukrainians are even negotiating. Unless Russia is offering to withdraw from Ukraine's internationally-recognised borders with minor preconditions, the Ukrainians should walk away from the table.
I would say her actions are more heroic (risking 15 years in jail) than westerners sitting comfortably posting Ukrainian flags on their social media. In every conflict there are real allies and then there are crocodile tears.
I guess one way of ascertaining whether the plane numbers are inflated is to assess whether the other figures make sense or not. Do those vehicle losses for example sound inflated? Not to me they don't.
In addition, some of those figures haven't changed at all recently - those UAV/fuel...
Ukrainian Ministry of Defense says that Russia has recruited another 400 Syrian mercenaries, bringing the total to over 1,000.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/323925