I remember the Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon game from 2002. It predicted this.
“Eastern Europe, 2008
The world teeters on the brink of war. Radical ultranationalists have seized power in Moscow - their goal, the reestablishment of the old Soviet empire. Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan - one by onne the nearby independent republics slip back into the Russian orbit. Russian tanks sit in the Caucasus Mountains and the Baltic forests, poised to strike to the south and east. The world hold its breath, and waits.”
Tom Clancy was right. He predicted it spot on. This is what we are witnessing. I hope the Russians overplay their frozen hands.