Inside Russian heads

Instead of demonizing Putin we better would ask what happens in Russian heads

Tim Marshalls enlightening book "Prisoners of Geography" has a chapter on Russia where he advises to forget about Putin and ask ourselves what ordinary Russian people expect from their leader: 

The way from Hamburg to Berlin and to Moscow is flat open country without any topographical barriers. Of this fact Western neighbours regularly took advantage by invading: In the 17th century the Swedes, in the 18th the Poles, in the 19th Napoleon and in the 20th century Hitler. If one includes the minor incursions (Crimea etc.) Marshall counts about one invasion or aggression per generation for the Russians. 

Adolph Northen: Napoleon in Russia

In addition Hitlers invasion was fought with the utmost brutality and lawlessness: He left millions of Russian prisoners of war starve without shelter, he chased tens of thousands of innocent civilian girls and woman to let them be abused by officers and soldiers in the hundreds of brothels run by the honourable Wehrmacht, only to shoot them after some weeks (that's why there are no complaints by comfort woman like in Korea). These events will be engraved in the Russian memory for generations and cause a deep suspicion of any hypocritical declarations of the West about "humanity" or "human rights". Russians expect their leader to protect them from such calamities. As long as he does that they will be content to submit and to sacrifice everything for the common good. And they like to have a cordon of satellite or neutral states around them.

I visited Russia three times and Moldova twice. From personal experience, from friends, acquaintances and reading I got the impression that Russia is an essentially lawless civilisation, without separation of state and religion (may it be orthodox or communist), without separation of powers, obeying only the to the laws of the stronger and of corruption and to the supreme will of the Czar (may it be Alexander, Lenin, Stalin, or Putin). Russia will not believe in nor keep any promises. Specifically they doubt, if the NATO countries will or can maintain their promises of help to the Ukrainians with bankruptcy and right-wing movements looming everywhere  

Now enter the EU, where the dominant member is Germany, and which can be viewed as the continuation of the project of German domination of Europe e.g. in Greece. The European court has no democratic legitimation and clear roots in Nazi-jurisdiction. On can forgive Russians for being suspicious. 

Then enter NATO: A so-called defensive alliance commanded by the same Washington which wants to "contain" Russia, whatever that means. Its not lost on Russia that the strongest European member of NATO is the same Germany that had attacked them so brutally two generations ago. And its not lost on them either that NATO had left its defensive stance by attacking their orthodox brothers in Serbia in the Jugoslavian war, and that NATO members participated in the aggressions against some unfortunate dictators who had renounced to atomic bombs (Saddam, Gaddafi). Russia will never believe that NATO is purely defensive. 

Kiev is the founding capital and Ukraine is heartland of Russia. In this sense for Russians the Ukrainian situation is civil unrest within Russia. 

While they could just tolerate that Poland and Romania entered NATO, Tim Marshall as well as even some of the best and most experienced US-American diplomatic experts warned that talk and steps about incorporating Ukraine into NATO would be a cause for war. It was stupidity of the Americans and the Biden administration not to hear these warnings. 

The Ukrainian war goes only on because of support by NATO. Russia perceives this as an aggression on its integrity by the same old Nazi enemy. If Ukraine also intervenes deeper on and even invades Russian territory it will become difficult to predict how the blind Russian bear will react, an opinion also shared by the former inspector general of the German Bundeswehr, general Harald Kujat.  

What Napoleon said about the Russians sounds awfully familiar now: "I beat them all the time and this finishes nothing" ("Le les bats toujours et cela ne termine rien", from Caulincourts report "En traineau avec l'empereur", protocol of his conversations with Napoleon during the two weeks he spent with him during the flight from Russia to Paris).  

And why all this territorial aggression? Probably testosterone programming the male mind do defend and expand its territory. Must have some significance for Darwinian selection.