Donbass is completely destroyed by the war and has lost a large part of its population. It will take years, if not decades, just to demine its territory. Who will live in Donbas after the war is an open question, but it will certainly not be Putin's supporters. The West should realize that the language issue has lost its fundamental importance after February 24; a huge number of Ukrainian defenders at the front are Russian-speaking. I grew up in a Russian-speaking region (not Donbass or Crimea) that put up the fiercest resistance after the aggression began and was fully liberated in April 2022.