@JamesSkepp

#trpisnsfwbydefault

A common Russian didnt' want to invade Ukraine ("it must be ours again"), simply b/c they considered them a "brotherly" nation

"Political decisions as function of how much Russian Sasha likes Ukrainian Sasha"

So much for brotherhood.

So why do we mix political [dictators survival] decisions with common folks again?

Whether Putin is a nice guy or not is irrelevant. What matters is his actions, which, from the historical perspective are good for Russia

Yeah, exactly that.

This is why nations need to split, otherwise they will be taken for a ride and annihilated. Especially if there is historical indication of strong superiority of 'sister' country [not 'feeling' of brotherhood], as even Stalin was not exactly Russian. He was part of the establishment

Russians are historically used to death and sacrifice

It is not exactly easy to oppose central gov in Russia. It is quite far to get to Moscow from most of the parts of the country. For the same reasons government doesn't invest too much into infrastructure. They are used to it because they have never seen better.

Russias history ingrained in them the "defend the Motherland" idea - which is why it's so effective

the policy that holds Russia is effective indeed, I agree that to hold the country together it is good, but it is hanging on keeping people generally poor, misinformed, uneducated.

Being native in your own land is not a permission to act against the important interests of other nations especially if it's done under the auspices of hostile entity, which what NATO is to Russia.

Yeah, they absolutely had a right to invade Ukraine based on their own interests. This interest is not keeping NATO away, it is loosing influence over territory of Ukraine, whatever reason it might be: political, fertile soil [grain], natural resources, access to long border with EU...