>>510870589 (OP)>create a buffer zone for the western part of Ukraine ?I'm not sure Russia will even go there. Why would they? They are concerned mainly with the eastern half and south. It's well possible they'll send some kind of peacekeeping force after the war is over, because there won't be any men left in Ukraine.
Well actually - there being no men left in Ukraine - is a pretty strong argument for conquering this essentially depopulated territory. "The Ukraine" already doesn't exist anymore, just the suicided corpse of it. Someone will have to dispose of it.