I mean, the parts of Ukraine russia hold just so happen to be where massive oil reserves were found/being prepped to drill conveniently before the war broke out, a LOT of those being offshore reserves.
So yeah, if russia manages to keep this somehow through negotiations or just by strongman-ing the land, they have a lot to gain financially by both controlling these reserves and by not having ukraine mine for them and sell them which would bring russia competition.
I mean, the parts of Ukraine russia hold just so happen to be where massive oil reserves were found/being prepped to drill conveniently before the war broke out, a LOT of those being offshore reserves.
So yeah, if russia manages to keep this somehow through negotiations or just by strongman-ing the land, they have a lot to gain financially by both controlling these reserves and by not having ukraine mine for them and sell them which would bring russia competition.