I can't really speak to the specifics of Russia's plans because I don't know them and I doubt anybody else does either. That's the sort of thing you don't announce about a military operation and anything said publicly about military plans is quite possibly misinformation. However, I think that most people THOUGHT that whatever Russia's military goals were that they would be accomplished quickly because people THOUGHT that Russia's military was vastly superior to that of the Ukraine. The fact that it has taken significantly longer than people expected makes Russia appear weak (at least in terms of conventional military forces). You could argue the same about the U.S. in Afghanistan but then nation building is always a waste of time, money and effort as has been proven time and time again. Russia, of course, should know about their own capabilities better than anyone so if they expected a months long campaign then good for them, they were right so far. The Russian army has been facing logistical issues but whether those issues are beyond what they expected or not I couldn't say. I don't think anyone doubts Russia's ability to destroy Ukraine eventually though. I mean, sooner or later they will have destroyed all of the schools, hospitals, shopping malls and apartment building that the Nazis could hide in.
Also, you can't really set a specific end date for a military operation unless your goal is merely destruction. You can of course decide to stop destroying things and killing people at a specific date if you want, declare victory and go home. Perhaps that is Russia's plan?
I have not seen details on what Russia is demanding for peace terms. However, adding more conditions because Ukraine doesn't surrender soon enough is not likely to bring peace faster. Just more destruction for everyone. Sounds like a childish ploy to me which makes me question Putin's mental state.
As far as what Russia's motives are, whether it is all the reasons you give or all the reasons the media gives or something else entirely, none of it justifies what they have done. None of it justifies killing thousands of people and displacing millions from their homes not to mention the destruction.
Fairy tales are always good for children and western audiences, the reality on the ground is always completely different.
Any country or armed group that places war plans sets its goals ultimate and acceptable, resources needed, time needed, and methods to achieve it, the more advanced or larger the country the more numerous the scenarios will be put taking into consideration the obstacles expected to be faced.
Our source quoted for the plan goals is a very prominent political analyst, an editor in chief of an important newspaper, has close contact with the Syrian leadership and through them got in contacts with the Russian leadership, or let's say established contacts with people aware or those allowed to leak certain information.
The above post is 8 days old, the news today circulating approves what I've written about the set date.
Contrary to the USA and its armed forces, the Russian army did have very successful military operations in Syria and then a swift operation in Kazakhstan, in Syria, they got the opportunity to have firsthand combats alongside the Syrian army in addition to non-state armed groups like the Lebanese Hezb Allah and the Iranian IRGC, they also had the chance to test their weapons, and learn of the technologies reached by the allies and foes at the same time, this is invaluable knowledge, the most important experience is the experience of bleeding on the ground, they also had that.
In comparison, the USAians fight remotely, fight by proxies, and the Ukrainians never fought a war in the past few decades.
The initial idea of a swift military operation was created by the western media to provoke the Russian forces to commit massacres by carpet-bombing entire cities and towns, the preferred method used by NATO with the US at its lead, the Russians are cold-minded, they also have an advantage of knowing the battleground they'll be fighting over in and out, they know what is their mission and I did mention much of it, that is not circulated and well-known by western audiences is their problem, it's out there, their set goals are publicly announced and repeated continuously.
I'm not in favor of any war, especially between brethren, half of Ukraine is and half of its people are basically Russian, I personally have relatives affected directly by the war and had to flee Kharkiv just a few days ago. that said, I don't think NATO and its Zelensky regime have left any chance to avoid this operation which in addition to all of what had been said already, it was a pre-emptive operation, the Russians were informed of a Ukrainian operation to attack Crimea and the Donbas and it was set to commence on the 25th of the month, let's say, as we say in Arabic: the Russians had NATO (and stooges) for lunch before NATO and stooges had Russia for dinner.
As for the logistics and other ridiculous claims, this isn't even worth commenting about, the area of Ukraine is almost 1.5 times the area of Iraq, the populous area of Ukraine is more than 3 times that of Iraq, and it's directly on Russian borders, not like on the other side of the planet like in the case of Iraq, so good you don't want to compare as that is the only comparable source given. The achievements so far by the Russians despite their meticulous handling of the military operations minimizing the unneeded casualties to near zero, maintaining the infrastructure to their utmost capabilities, until now electricity is running throughout the country, so is water supplies, food...etc., in addition to all of that they have liberated most of the populous areas in the east and south, they have the superiority over Ukraine's air space, control of its nuclear plants, control over the biological weapons labs, destroyed all of Ukraine's army main infrastructure... and we're just 5 weeks into the operation, half of the set peiod.
There's a whole lot here that has nothing to do with anything I said. Iraq has nothing to do with Ukraine nor does the fact that logistics being easier when it is a country next door mean you can't have problems.
A military operation has certain military goals, and yes, it also has a projected timeline. However, this timeline is a range, not a set date. It's certainly reasonable, for example, to project that some military operation will be completed in 6-8 weeks or 3-6 months. It is not reasonable to say we will have completed all goals on exactly this specific date. Russia can certainly go on destroying Ukraine until some specific date if they want but then that just shows that their goal is destruction.
"Pre-emptive" is just another word for "offensive". It's not like NATO or the U.S. or the Ukraine were ever going to invade Russia. And if you are buying Russian propaganda about U.S. sponsored bio-weapons labs then you really need to look a little deeper. All Russia will accomplish here is to cement a relationship with the Ukraine based in hate for at least a generation.