All good points, and here is another one allied with atheistic China
But here is a basic question and for this question I will grant all the “Russia is a Christian nation and the salvation of Christianity in deeds and beliefs”, what does invading Ukraine have to do with that?
Follow on after quick “victory” did not happen, why destroy all that they have?
And finally if the invasion had gone as planned to quote Thomas Sowell
“What then”?
What Putin did in february 2022 (attacking Kiev) is an epic miscalculation and profoundly nonsensical.
He had already stolen Crimea and Donbas from Ukraine back in 2014, with relatively weak international outcry. It was a win-win for him. No deaths, nearly not a shot fired!
But... the international weak response at the time made him yearn for more later... he wanted it all - ALL of Ukraine.
But this time, the world reacted and simply said enough is enough. They told Kremlin to end their non-stop warmongering and bring their troops back to Moscow. Unfortunately Russia doubled down with their invasion instead...
But here is the true shocker... after one and a half years of war, Russia basically have not succeeded in taking anything more in Ukraine compared to what they already had anyway back in 2014!!
We have to let that sink in for a minute..
So why on earth did Russia go to war, losing 250.000 men, +4000 tanks, etc... for absolutely no extra advances in Ukraine! It’s pure insanity.
Putin had basically all he wanted in 2014 and got away with it, but he destroyed it all by launching the most nonsensical war of the last 100 years: his attack on Kiev in 2022.