Russia has already won?

Perhaps the most unsettling bit of news to come from the discussion shown below is when Tim Pool professes shock at seeing that Russia, despite all the pro-Ukraine propaganda, has basically achieved the military goals that it had set out to achieve. Russia has already effectively won. Meanwhile, Patrick Bet-David repeatedly mentions statistics showing American enthusiasm for helping Ukraine has dropped significantly among both liberals and conservatives. I think Ukraine is going to have to settle for a new normal—one in which its eastern region now belongs to Russia, which ought to make the ethnic Russians in that area quite happy. I'm no expert in this area, and I agree that Russia was the initial aggressor, making Ukraine the victim. But was Russia provoked into invading Ukraine? I've seen arguments that say yes, and at least one voice on the panel in the video below also says yes. But provoked or not, Russia clearly made the first military move here. That said, I find it hard to dredge up much sympathy for Ukraine's government considering how utterly corrupt it has been. The Ukrainian people continue to have my sympathy, of course, but at this point, I don't see much hope that Ukraine can hold its eastern territory.