But this is what the war IS about. Which empire gets those precious minerals. Whoever wins will be entitled to the spoils that ukraine will owe them for winning the war. No matter which side wins.
Ukraine switched from russian exploitation to liberal exploitation after the "orange revolution". So this process of redirecting extracted resources from one empire to another has been continued and expanded after the invasion.
The only way out of this is putting an end to humanity's ability to do empires. This ability has a mutually assured off button on the two human parasite bossman's desks. One of these buttons is currently within the reach of Ukraine's rocket artillery. While they will be smashed as well, the survivors would have the first opportunity in centuries for freedom