

FYI: It’s usually “Burying the lede” because the introductory section of the article is spelled “lede”, ostensibly to distinguish between the article’s leading point (lead) and the thin strip of metal (lead) that was used to separate lines of type in setting machines. Source: Merriam-Webster
(Your spelling isn’t strictly wrong, I just figured this might be interesting to some)
Imperialism doesn’t imply stupidity.
A state’s sovereignty is contingent on others recognising and respecting it. If Putin claims Ukraine isn’t a sovereign state, that’s not a mistake so much as his opinion – a dangerous opinion, make no mistake, because he uses it to justify his actions to his own people and is putting a lot of effort into trying to convince everyone else to accept his opinion. If we do, Ukraine effectively loses its sovereignty, because that is itself a product of other states’ opinions.