At this point i'm almost wishing he gets Dombas so he can pretend it was the plan all along and call it a day (pretty unlikely). This way he won't look like they were defeated and he won't feel the need to escalade violence even more to show he's still a strong leader. This man's ego is collossal, he won't tolerate giving the impression that he didn't fulfill what he wanted.
Yeah I think its too late for the Donbas option given the amount of death and destruction has has caused throughout the rest of Ukraine this week. He will still have to be held to account for all of that, which will likely happen through leaving sanctions in place until he is forced out of power.