Borderland.
But etymology doesn't determine sovereignty. Alexei Navalny understands the basic imperative of de-imperializing Russia in his 15 points that you're apparently fail to grasp:
"15 points of a Russian citizen who wants the good of his country.
What was it and what is it now?
1. President Putin has unleashed an unjust war of aggression against Ukraine under ridiculous pretexts. He is desperately trying to give this war the status of “people’s”, trying to make all Russian citizens his accomplices, but his attempts fail. There are almost no volunteers for this war, so Putin’s army relies on prisoners and forcibly mobilized.
2. The real causes of the war are political and economic problems within Russia, Putin’s desire to retain power at all costs, and his obsession with his historical legacy. He wants to go down in history as a “conqueror-king” and a “collector of lands”.
3. Tens of thousands of innocent Ukrainians had been killed and millions had suffered pain and suffering. War crimes have been committed. The cities and infrastructure of Ukraine were destroyed.
4. Russia is suffering a military defeat. It was this realization that changed the rhetoric of the authorities from “Kiev in three days” to hysterical threats to use nuclear weapons in case of loss. The lives of tens of thousands of Russian soldiers have been senselessly lost. The final military defeat can be postponed at the cost of the lives of hundreds of thousands more mobilized, but in general it is inevitable. The combination of “aggressive war + corruption + talentlessness of the generals + weak economy + heroism and high motivation of the defenders” results in only defeat.
The Kremlin’s false and hypocritical calls for negotiations and a ceasefire are nothing more than a realistic assessment of the prospects for military action.
What to do?
5. What are the borders of Ukraine? The same as Russia, internationally recognized, defined in 1991. We, Russia, also recognized them then. Russia should recognize these borders even now. There's nothing to discuss. Almost all borders in the world are random and cause someone’s discontent. But it is impossible to fight for their change in the 21st century. Otherwise, the world will descend into chaos.
6. Leave Ukraine alone and allow it to develop as its people wish. Stop the aggression, end the war and withdraw all Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine. To continue the war is just a hysteria of impotence, and to stop it is a strong move.
7. To work with Ukraine, the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom to find acceptable ways to compensate for the damage caused to Ukraine. For example (after the change of power in Russia and the end of the war), abolishing restrictions on our oil and gas, but with the direction of part of the income from the export of hydrocarbons to compensation.
8. Investigate war crimes in cooperation with international institutions.
Why is stopping Putin’s aggression in Russia’s interests?
9. Do all Russians have imperial consciousness? It's nothing. For example, Belarus is involved in the war against Ukraine. Do Belarusians also have imperial consciousness? They also have a dictator in power. In Russia, as in any country with historical prerequisites for this, there will always be people with imperial views, but this is far from the majority. There's no reason to cry and lament. Such people should be defeated in elections, as the right and left radicals in developed countries are defeated.
10. Does Russia need new lands?
Russia is a huge country with a shrinking population and a dying province. Imperialism and the desire to seize territories is the most harmful and destructive way. The Russian authorities are again destroying our future with their own hands in order to make the country look bigger on the map. But Russia is so big. Our task is to save the people and develop what we have in abundance.
11. The legacy of this war will be a tangle of complex and seemingly almost intractable problems. It is important to determine for ourselves that we really want to solve them, and then start doing it honestly and openly. The key to success is in the understanding that it will not only be good for Russia and its people, but also very profitable to stop the war as soon as possible: this is the only way to begin the movement towards lifting sanctions, returning those who left, restoring business confidence, economic growth.
12. I would like to stress once again that after the war we have to compensate Ukraine for the damage caused by Putin ' s aggression. But the restoration of normal economic relations with the civilized world and the return of economic growth will allow us to do this without interfering with the development of our country.
We're at the bottom, and to surface, we need to push away from it. This will be morally correct, rational and beneficial.
13. Dismantling the Putin regime and its dictatorship. Ideally, through universal free elections and the convening of a Constitutional Convention.
14. Establishment of a parliamentary republic based on change of power through fair elections, an independent judiciary, federalism, local self-government, full economic freedom and social justice.
15. Aware of our history and traditions, we must be part of Europe and follow the European path of development. We have no other, and we do not need another.
Once we open the door to the unilateral violation of and redrawing of borders, we end up back in 1938. I'd prefer not to see rerun of that movie. It's also why African countries all agreed to stick with the straight line borders drawn by colonial powers. You don't want to get into redrawing borders along tribal lines.
That's why German speaking Italians in Alto Adige will stay Italian.
Catalan speaking Frenchmen will stay French.
German speaking Alsatians will stay French.
And the French army won't invade Quebec on the pretext of its membership in the "monde Francais" to "free" it from Anglo-Saxon tyranny.
