[newsweek.com]

Russia has been planning for years how they can re-exert influence and power over the former Soviet states, using essentially the same playbook they have with Ukraine.

Documents have surfaced showing that Russia plans, among other things, to incorporate Belarus as a "union state".

According to Newsweek, "The documents state that associations and organizations should be created that can covertly advance pro-Russian narratives and spread Russian culture. Propaganda should allege discrimination against Russian speakers and Russian-speaking students should be invited to Russia. Meanwhile, the demolition or relocation of Soviet-era World War II monuments should be prevented.
In Estonia, lucrative business contracts should be offered to businessmen, one document states.
'Work with Estonian businessmen to explain the readiness of the Russian Federation to open the Russian market to them, provided that Tallinn changes its foreign policy to be more pro-Moscow,' it said.
According to Expressen, one strategy document suggests that Russia intends to use the dependence of the Baltic states on its electricity grid as leverage by pointing to the risk of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania being disconnected from Russia's electricity grid."

So, by a combination of propaganda, covert influence peddling, and blackmail, Putin's regime is trying to rebuild the Soviet Union.

The so-called provocations used as a pretext for the Ukraine invasion are a fiction created by Russia to justify their attacks. "Propaganda should allege discrimination against Russian speakers..." is exactly what happened.

There should be no more question that Russia is the aggressor in the region. But I'm sure some people will continue blaming the victims, regardless.