All three of those examples are to Russia's south, not to the west. South Ossetia and Abkhazia were struggling for independence from Georgia well before Russia countered and ceased NATO's meddling there in 2008. Those hardly qualify as conquests by Moscow.
Crimea is absolutely vital to Russia's strategic southern defense, and its seizure was a defensive reaction to the February coup in Kiev. We were dreaming to believe that Russia would allow its sole warm water port at Sevastopol and its surrounding air bases in Crimea to fall into NATO's hands. All that Russia's annexation of Crimea did was preserve the military status quo.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO has added 12 new member nations in Central and Eastern Europe, and is now positioned along the borders of Russia itself. I'm still looking for any examples of Russia's westward expansion.
Good grief. A professor of Semantics, with multiple degrees in Excuse-Making.
South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Crimea . . . .
Don’t forget Transnistra. Like those other autonomous states, it’s people had not wanted to separate from the Soviet Union years ago. It fought a war so it wouldn’t be under Moldovan control, just like South Ossetia fought 2 wars so it wouldn’t be under Georgian control. Eastern Ukraine is a collection of autonomous states too. They just got lumped into nations they did not want to be a part of when the USSR broke apart. Many referendums and elections were held reinforcing their autonomy (95%+). The US and EU would not recognize them. Landlocked Transnistria is currently blockaded thru an export ban in an effort to break their will. The EU also has a travel ban on many of their leadership.
Transnistria, Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia are post-Soviet “frozen conflict” zones. These four unrecognized states maintain friendly relations with each other and form the Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations.
Very well done.