Russia's record during the 20th century is that of a nation that has annexed neighboring territory at every opportunity, including land that has never been historically Russian. It imprisoned the nations of Central Europe for over 4 decades after WWII, conducting mass killings of class enemies, emplacing dictators who answered only to the Kremlin, and preventing the victims of their tyranny from escaping to the West. Like Germany, Russia has a lot to live down. Unlike Germany, whose record of evil ended 70 years ago, Russia's criminal past ended less than 3 decades ago. That it continues to have Lenin statues in public places, and Lenin's carcass remains in its place of honor near Russia's seat of government is a hot poker in the eye of everyone who has ever suffered under either Russian-imposed or -sponsored tyranny.
The appropriate analogy is what the European reaction would have been to Germany conducting a second Anschluss back in the early 1970's, roughly 3 decades after the end of WWII. Russians see themselves as Europe's savior, when the reality is that they, along with Germany, were arsonists who helped burn Europe to the ground via the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Russian perfidy remains fresh in the minds of just about anyone who grew up during the Cold War.
I don’t justify aggressive hegemonistic behavior on behalf of any nation or group of nations. I certainly am no fan of the murdering cabal of leftsts in the old USSR who plunged half of Europe and Asia into abject misery and almost blew up the world.
I am also saying that it is a pathetic and tissue thin lie to point to this as some kind of spontaneous nationalist Ukranian uprising against Papa Bear that Putin is determined to crush. This was fomented by the EU and USA, and Putin is responding the way we would if some foreign entity instigated revolution in Mexico and funded a new government that was hostile to the drug lords we are funding there. (we are clear sponsors in the Sinaloa cartel, and PICKED them as our sponsors in the drug wars down there... that much has come out in emails subpoenaed for a trial here).
Just saying that the idea that Russia is the bad guy (and they are) vs us being the “good guy” is a bunch of hocum.
I despise the thug Putin, but I understand why he reacts as he does. He is also very smart and savvy, besides being a murderous thug. We had better be careful