To be fair, Putin just needs to show pics of the Azov battalion and their swastikas and say "This is who is attacking our people". The western libtard "muh next Hitler" argument doesn't make any sense when the Ukranians have literal Nazi battalions.
I would love if Putin would do this, since it would probably ultimately make baseless YOU'RE A RACIST NAZI accusations less serious/taboo, and more obviously fake in Western countries.
Just think of the parallels between Putin claiming to invade Ukraine for the purpose of "denazification," and Justin Trudeau violently clearing peaceful protesters based on false claims that they were Nazis. Maybe if the likes of Trudeau will have to stop and think "If I say this, will I sound like Vladimir Putin?" then maybe they'll try a new tactic. "Nazi" is The N-W*rd for wypipo.
It's absolutely amazing how some people have deluded themselves into thinking one of the poorest regions of Europe is a massive prize. Exactly what valuable commodity is Ukraine providing that Russia doesn't already have?
Not everything is about money. Are you considering the political implications of Eastern Ukraine being populated by Russians rather than Ukrainians, and a certain resemblance of the Donbass crisis to the Sudetenland crisis? That is not to say Vladimir Putin is Literally Hitler, and OH NO WE NEED TO IMMEDIATELY GO TO WAR STOP HIM (NO APPEASEMENT!), but rather that bad borders that do not reflect national or ethnic differences cause grievances and often start wars, especially when there is a persecuted minority in one country, and big brother next door wants to intervene to protect their kin. Whether or not you want to dispute the veracity of this, much of Russian media and their political apparatus are claiming there is an ongoing genocide in Eastern Ukraine, both in terms of violence, and a cultural genocide aspect where the Ukrainians are trying to assimilate the Russians of Eastern Ukraine. That is definitely the kind of thing to spark war, regardless of money involved, or whether or not you believe them.
Additionally, are you considering the geopolitical, or military-strategic value of certain pieces of land? Many say that Constantinople is the most important piece of land in the world. It represents a crossroads between the land route between Europe and Asia, and the sea route between the vast interconnected Eastern European river systems (Danube, Dnieper, Don, Volga [by proxy], etc) and the Black Sea, connecting with the Mediterranean Sea and by extension the oceans. Control of at least the Black Sea is a critical strategic consideration for Russia. If war were declared without controlling the Black Sea, defense of Russia would be akin to Germany in WW2 after Italy had fallen, and Germany's soft underbelly was exposed. This is why the annexation of Crimea, with its military complexes was so important to Russia and worth all the trouble to them. One could perhaps make the argument that they already have what they need and they should just leave everyone alone, but the problem now is that they have their core regional assets, but they are now exposed. If these things are so important, for example the bases in Crimea, then it would be a disaster for Russia if Ukraine joined NATO, and American troops were staring down the Sevastopol Naval Base and Black Sea Fleet from roughly across the water in Ukraine's Odessa, threatening to move at the drop of a hat. Now Russia wants buffer states and some geographic breathing room. Historically, the Russian Empire also sought control of Constantinople as well, both for Orthodox Christian value, as well as having prized ports directly on the Mediterranean, and no longer being beholden to Ottoman Turk permissions for safe passage through the Sea of Marmara (there are certain treaties guaranteeing passage, but treaties can be ignored or broken, especially at inopportune times).
Arguably *the* central problem that Russia needs to solve in their political geography is that Eastern Europe is generally very flat, meaning that it is not very defensible. Many borders in Europe are based on defensible terrain, often mountains, which allowed states to develop in the zones they were easily capable of controlling. For example, see Northern Italy's borders, which are basically just their side of the Alps; additionally, see Spain's northern frontier with France, it's the Pyrenees mountains.
![Image_1a_20171130_ME_SEO_GF[1].jpg](https://kiwifarms.st/attachments/image_1a_20171130_me_seo_gf-1-jpg.3014792/ "Image_1a_20171130_ME_SEO_GF[1].jpg")
Russia, on the other hand, has no such protection. The Russian Empire was able to push up to, or near, the Carpathian Mountains at certain points in history, and could use that geography to their benefit, but the North European Plain is fucked. One could hypothetically march an army (Napoleon-style) or drive tank divisions (Hitler-style) right from Brittany in northwest France all the way to the Ural Mountains without many natural barriers. Therefore all the Russians can do is try to create as large of a buffer as possible; to increase the latency time from when war is declared to when enemy troops are in Moscow--and that is precisely what they are presently trying to do; to return to some kind of older status quo after a few decades of post-Soviet weakness and humiliation.
