“Russian think” is an amazing blend of historical revisionism, misplaced dreams of grandeur (third Rome), superiority complex, and paranoia
I am quite sure putin believed everything he said
Yes, that is frightening. I am confident he believes what he said. I have worked in both Russia and Poland in the past. I have known many Russians and far more Poles. The Russians are so clueless about how much the Poles hate them. The sane can be said about the Belarusians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Czechs, Georgians, and Slovaks. When I visited Ukraine in 2017 I didn’t see any anti-Russian sentiments but I presume that if Ukrainians were loving the Russians back then that this love has faded for many Ukrainians since this Special Military Operation started almost 2 years ago.
Not all Russians believe Putin. But enough of them do just like the CNN, MSNBC, CBS, NBC, and ABC viewers mostly unquestionably believe the propaganda they get. Some people are just sheep for the Machiavellians :(