Its like Hillary walking into a working class kitchen for the first time.
They’ve been shielded from even critical support of China and other AES for so long they literally, not figuratively, literally cannot process that people exist that have beliefs that aren’t Reddit Approved. They immediately assume it’s bots or wumao. Human beings can’t possibly hold these beliefs, so they must be Oriental hordes or actual robots.
What exactly makes you think Russia would’ve fared worse by sticking to one region?
NATO would have kept sending Ukraine bombs to use for years, and Russia would be powerless to end the war, short of abandoning the Donbass. Even though they could hold the territory, they would never win.
Only if Russia forces Ukraine to surrender - or ideally, they just surrender now - can they actually secure peace and sovereignty for Luhansk and Donetsk.