They are being noticed, but I’m not sure they do more good than harm:

Fossil fuel lobbies have long stopped trying to paint oil as good but rather environmentalism as bad, and activists as idiots.

If you look at old pro-oil propaganda, say 80s-90s it was all about how great life is thank to oil and how bright the future of the oil-based economy was going to be, downplaying climate change and pollution related issues.

Now they’re just engaging in mud throwing because their position is untenable.

Going for the shock factor may just fuel their game.

Aside from nationalistic pride, there are several practical reasons:

1. Azof sea + Crimean peninsula are a natural chockepoint for Russia’s exports from the river Don, basically all Russia’s black sea inports and exports pass though there

2. Donbass is incredibly rich in mineral resources

3. Ukraine’s ports are where the largest Soviet Union ships were built, Russia can’t build larger frigades/aircraft carriers without Ukraine’s facilities (mainly Mykolaiv port I believe).

4. The dominance over the black sea is extremely important for Russia, as it may affect both its nuclear deterrence and its control over Georgia which opens the gates to central asia (yes Turkey is in Nato but it plays its own game)

Also consider that Russia started the war hoping for a quick ukrainian capitulation, so they would have absorbed the hugely important ukrainian aerospace industry, and its massive farming industry.

They probably ‘just’ want the Donbass and the coast now, so the last point is no longer relevant, but it played a role in deciding to push forward with the invasion.

They took the enshitment too literally

That’s a bit extreme, there are plenty of reasonable voices, at least here on europe, although the pro genocide groups tend to stick together and have and outsize power for the votes they get, they’re not all there is.

In the US you don’t have much choice but, that’s all the more reason to vote and suport pro palestinian candidates, if there are any in your area.

With how bad Trump is, it’s understandable. But make sure to vote pro palestinian candidates if there are any in primaries or on the ballot.

Meanwhile some totally not complicit countries have cut funding to the unrwa for political gain.

I know the blockade and bombings impeding access to umanitarian trucks is a giant issue, but the impending collapse of the main provider of aid is the one thing we can colletively stop, donating to the unrwa directly.