[Jan_Sobieski]

I just recall that at the time, it seemed silly to me. Maybe that's because I don't look at things the way a paranoid Russian would.

Bingo. Russia lost up to 26 million in WW2. To them, that’s 26 million reasons to be paranoid.

[DiogenesLamp]

According to what i've seen, they've been invaded 50 times in their history. They lose a lot of men because their land is open and easy to travel once you get past the choke points, of which Ukraine is 1 of 7, I believe.

It takes a great deal of men to throw back an invading army, and you could see why they don't want to be put into that position.