Russia v. Everybody (2022 Ukraine invasion edition)

[mrmephistopheles]

So I stumbled on some PBS Frontline interviews for a couple of their programs regarding V. Putin and Russia, and they shed some insight on who Putin is, why he is the way he is, and why he's having Russia do what it's doing.

I'm not political analyst, but I've always seen Putin as being a bit of an odd duck, if a very skilled-in-PR duck. The fact that he was KGB/FSB, and succeeded Yeltsin just speaks volumes for the sort of character he is (which is only amplified when you learn about how he grew up).

I think the current war is very interesting in terms of a.) what Putin aimed to achieve, despite the numerous agreements he broke in doing so, and b.) what he's actually achieved, and how united Europe and the world at large has become against his behavior.

There's a ton of interesting facets to this and I'd love to hear what others are thinking. Among the nuttiness -

1. Heavy media censorship/state-approved reporting in Russia
2. China turning their back on Russia
3. Russian war crimes
4. Ukraine's president being a former comedian (not a slight, mind you. The US has elected a has-been actor and a game show host)
5. Putin's inability to see internal opposition for anything other than external influence
6. Biden's statement that nearly amounted to the US calling for a regime change in Russia
7. The overall ineffectiveness displayed by the EU, UN, and NATO
8. The overwhelming effectiveness of private companies and other non-governmental organizations to directly sanction Russia
9. Ukraine folded a nationalist paramilitary group (think militia as it relates to the US) that had about 1/5 of its members admit to being neo-Nazis)
10. Russian oligarchs (who all apparently kowtow to Putin) are being sanctioned at an unprecedented rate.

Anyway, what say you?
Do you buy into the Russian claim that despite their president being Jewish, Ukraine is overwhelmingly full of Nazis? Are those babushkas and other civilians being shot while bound actually insurgents? What are Putin's goals with this invasion? Is he trying to get the old (USSR) band back together to secure his legacy as glorious leader of motherland? Will Ukraine become a member of NATO? Have all the protests in Russia against Putin for the duration of his leadership been secretly funded solely by the West and not a result of organic dissatisfaction with his leadership?