Hi GotoBrazil It means that Ukraine has continued to exist. 'Simply' (only) means that is all it has done. I hope this helps. Victoria

The sentence means that the simple fact that Ukraine has survived counts as a victory in the first phase. What are you confused about?

Hi. Survive means continue to live after a catastrophe. It's related to Italian or Latin root: sopra+vivere which means to live beyond or live over sth... I hope it helped. Best regards, Puyan