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Putin has no ideology; he is, in fact, an intellectually unsophisticated person. His entire political worldview rests on two very simple narratives. 1/9

One is that the West is waging an eternal war against Russia. The other is that Ukraine is merely an instrument of the West in the current episode of the perennial anti-Russian war. 2/9

In my recent essay, I traced the origins of these ideas to Putin’s teenage years and his fascination with Soviet spy thrillers, showing how his KGB service and specific events later solidified that basic worldview: shekhovtsov.substack.com/p/putins-gen... 3/9

There have been various attempts to “intellectualise” Putin’s thinking by linking him to Ivan Ilyin, Alexander Dugin, and the like – but it is all utterly excessive: all of Putin’s statements about the West and the war ultimately boil down to those two simple ideas. 4/9

Yet despite their simplicity, these notions are deadly. If Ukraine is seen as an instrument of the West in its perennial war against Russia, then the Russian leadership views it as an imperative to destroy that instrument – thereby striking an indirect blow against the West itself. 5/9

Such a blow, in their logic, would inevitably weaken the West and improve the prospects for further Russian retaliatory efforts. 6/9

Those in the West who believe peace can be secured by surrendering Ukraine to Russia fundamentally misunderstand the hierarchy in Putin’s thinking: the destruction of Ukraine is a tactical objective, not the strategic aim of his war. 8/9

Those who do grasp this hierarchy understand that Western support for Ukraine need not necessarily be rooted in sympathy for the Ukrainian national project – it is, first and foremost, a matter of Western strategic self-interest. 9/9

Putin made it clear that he wants to reconstitute the Soviet Union - and more besides no doubt. It's funny that he wants to do this on the back of doing virtually nothing to lift up the Russian people. Who believes this shit?

Very true, thank you. For those unfamiliar with the actual history of moskau I would add that it is not so much about geopolitical entities, but topography: in the sense that it is considered of utmost importance of having a proverbial rocket division west of the Carpathian mountains.

Unfortunately USA leader is now a Putin puppet and understanding Putin's goals is unimportant to him.

The goals are different but it would be as effective as the Munich Pact when Chamberlain gave Hitler Czechoslovakia. It would show weakness and whet Putin's appetite.

Putin urgently needs Ukrainian food, raw materials and slaves for factories and army. Exactly like Hitler planned

As soon as the attack started, it occurred to me this is not over Ukraine, this is over the freedom of Western Europe.