@Druvius The facts are that Russia did occupy eastern Euro0pean countires by force at the end of WW II and did install puppet governments. Then they kept large numbers of their forces in those countries to maintain their tyranny. vIf any pof those occupied countries dared to try to assert their independency from Russia, those movements were brutally crushed. If you disagre with those facts, yoyu simply don't know what in the hell you wer talking about. You must have been on another poanet at the time.

@Druvius Maybe his point is that Putin is utterly committed to rebuilding the "glory" of Soviet days? This is a man who maneuvered his Parliament into making him president for life, whose security forces poison and imprison dissidents, who outlaws opposing political parties, and who runs his nation as a thugocracy for his own profit. (No wonder Trump admires him so, he's everything Donald wants to be.)

He's already annexed the Crimea, the whole of Ukraine is next on his list.

@Paul4747 Correct. During the Colfd War. {itomn was a member of the Soveit Commun9ist Party, and a Soviet intelligence operative. A leopard does not change its spots.

Russian special forces took over their parliament and forced a vote at gunpoint. Foreign troops in the Parliament building is an invasion, no matter how you shade it.

@Druvius It is hard not to notice that the Wikipedia pages linked-to -- by :
"A B
Updated 3 years ago · Author has 1.7K answers and 1.3M answer views"
(who exactly is 'A B' ? )

. . . the Wikipedia pages have been LAST EDITED, 12/21 or 1/22 ! ! !

IOW, how accurate, reliable, credible can they possible be ? ? ? ?
Is this REALLY what you would use as your source ? ? ? ?

@Druvius They may be largely ethnic Russians, but Russia is a thoroughly corrupt thugocracy. I question whether they are so happy to be a part of that.

@Druvius If they're that keen to be part of Russia, why did Putin need to send Russian special forces wearing masks to take over the Parliament in 2014? And then hold a secret referendum, at gun point, over rejoining Russia? We still don't know what actually happened, because MPs had their phones confiscated as they entered, many had votes cast for them even though they weren't present, and no independent witnesses were allowed in the building.

This is the equivalent of (to take a fanciful example) ethnic Mexican residents of California rioting to rejoin with the parent land, and Mexico invading to "rescue" them from the United States. The reality is that Crimea has been back and forth being a Russian possession for centuries.

@Druvius You must trust the Russians. I don't.