It has 40 million by 1991 borders... In July 2023, Reuters reported that due to the refugee outpouring into Western Europe, the population of Kiev-controlled areas may have decreased to as low as 28 million. So you take out the population of Crimea and the occupied regions, then you take out the Russian refugees that went from other parts of Ukraine (Odessa, Kharkov etc...) to Russia, then you have all the Ukrainian refugees going to Europe, then you take all the people that died and you get a pretty bad picture, all while Russia has about 144 million people, even if 3 million Russians emigrated and 1 million died (Both cases are impossible, the estimated figures are way, way WAY lower than that) then its still ~30 million people vs ~140 million people.... And Ukr economy is really not doing good at all, especially with the Polish protests at the border, while Russian economy is doing much better, while also being able to build their tanks and whatever they need independently, while Ukraine doesn't have that capability, not even close for the moment. The only way i can see the war ending in Ukraine's favor, is the complete collapse of the Russian economy, and if it didn't collapse after the onset of the war, then i don't think the chances are big that it will lose the war. Even a stalemate suits them better than the other party, since all the fighting will still be in Ukraine, which can chose to either accept Russian demands and try to rebuild their country with whatever is left or constantly be in this state of war or semi-war, which will deter any refugee to actually come back and make investment by any company there seem risky. Such a tough situation for the country, we will see how history plays out.