funny thing is, leading up to 2022, there was even talk of disbanding NATO
up to that point, Russia had worn the mask of a well-behaved nation so well that many leading Europeans were seriously considering getting rid of NATO ... it wasn’t needed anymore, because Russia was a civilized part of Europe, right?
if Vlady had only waited a few years, Europe would’ve let down their defenses and be vulnerable ...
but Putin couldn’t wait, so in February 2022, the mask dropped ... and Europe suddenly woke up enough to see that, despite all its sunny optimism, the menacing monster in the East was still there after all
There are three key parts to Putin’s logic here. First, the birth rate is dropping like a rock. A fair number of people believe the official gov’t numbers given since 1990s...aren’t that true, and the population is probably three to six million less than they admit (currently advertised at 143-million).
Second, rumors around the FSB suggest that when Putin told them in summer of 2021 to crank up a plan....they thought it was like the other hundred-odd projects...just put a simple plan up for his review. The suggestion is that they never anticipated he’d go and do something like this.
Finally, Covid fears, with his health condition....convinced him he needed a legacy, and bringing Ukraine back to the ‘house’ would solidify his legend. The ten-day war seemed achievable.