"After WW II Russia invaded all of the countries in eastern Europe and installed puppet governments." So wrong it's frightening, and goes downhill from there.

@Druvius The facts are that Russia did occupy eastern Euro0pean countires by force at the end of WW II and did install puppet governments. Then they kept large numbers of their forces in those countries to maintain their tyranny. vIf any pof those occupied countries dared to try to assert their independency from Russia, those movements were brutally crushed. If you disagre with those facts, yoyu simply don't know what in the hell you wer talking about. You must have been on another poanet at the time.

@wordywalt Yes, that was over fifty years ago, and the Soviet Union ceased to exist over 30 years ago. Your point?

@Druvius Maybe his point is that Putin is utterly committed to rebuilding the "glory" of Soviet days? This is a man who maneuvered his Parliament into making him president for life, whose security forces poison and imprison dissidents, who outlaws opposing political parties, and who runs his nation as a thugocracy for his own profit. (No wonder Trump admires him so, he's everything Donald wants to be.)

He's already annexed the Crimea, the whole of Ukraine is next on his list.

@Paul4747 Correct. During the Colfd War. {itomn was a member of the Soveit Commun9ist Party, and a Soviet intelligence operative. A leopard does not change its spots.

Russia didn't invade Ukraine. The government and people of Crimea voted overwhelmingly to join Russia (They're Russian and never wanted to be part of Ukraine in the first place.) after a US fostered Nazi coup shot their way into power in Ukraine and made it their first order of business passing laws making Russians living in Ukraine second class citizens. Of course Crimea didn't want any part of them. Democracy and self determination, to characterize that as an invasion is propaganda at its finest.

@actofdog So what? The people of Crimea never wanted to be part of Ukraine from the beginning. [quora.com]

Russian special forces took over their parliament and forced a vote at gunpoint. Foreign troops in the Parliament building is an invasion, no matter how you shade it.

@Druvius It is hard not to notice that the Wikipedia pages linked-to -- by :
"A B
Updated 3 years ago · Author has 1.7K answers and 1.3M answer views"
(who exactly is 'A B' ? )

. . . the Wikipedia pages have been LAST EDITED, 12/21 or 1/22 ! ! !

IOW, how accurate, reliable, credible can they possible be ? ? ? ?
Is this REALLY what you would use as your source ? ? ? ?

The people who are overwhelmingly happy to be part of Russia, you know, because they are Russian and never wanted to be part of Ukraine in the first place? Tell them what?

@Druvius They may be largely ethnic Russians, but Russia is a thoroughly corrupt thugocracy. I question whether they are so happy to be a part of that.

@Druvius If they're that keen to be part of Russia, why did Putin need to send Russian special forces wearing masks to take over the Parliament in 2014? And then hold a secret referendum, at gun point, over rejoining Russia? We still don't know what actually happened, because MPs had their phones confiscated as they entered, many had votes cast for them even though they weren't present, and no independent witnesses were allowed in the building.

This is the equivalent of (to take a fanciful example) ethnic Mexican residents of California rioting to rejoin with the parent land, and Mexico invading to "rescue" them from the United States. The reality is that Crimea has been back and forth being a Russian possession for centuries.

@racocn8 My brothers best friend is Crimean and visits regularly, they're thrilled.

Except that it's the US with a globe spanning military empire with constant interventions. Russia's last unjust intervention was in 1968. And no, it's not going to happen, anymore than Saddam was going to invade Saudi Arabia or or attack the USA with WMDs.

@Druvius You must trust the Russians. I don't.