We Are The Reds

Forgive my ignorance but what is it that putin wants from ukraine ?

Its obviously for real estate. I think i read somewhere there was a major source of energy or something on the border or was it just a military base that they were more or less renting ?

It's in the history.
It was the capital of first Slavic federation between 882–1283.
They go back a long way together Russia, Ukraine and Belarus
I did a wiki and this may help get you started.

"The Claw " having lived there for a few years would be able to give us some more background but he hasn't posted since the end of the last season.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kievan_Rus%27

Forgive my ignorance but what is it that putin wants from ukraine ?

Its obviously for real estate. I think i read somewhere there was a major source of energy or something on the border or was it just a military base that they were more or less renting ?

Deep warm water naval port + pipelines.

Also glory.

The dismantling of the Soviet Union and the loss of power in Eastern Europe is now seen by a lot of Russians as an insult to their national pride.

Resurgence of imperial ambitions. Same old story whenever a powerful country feels their greatness to be coming under threat (see also: China, Serbia, Israel ...)

Well there you go!

I was aware of issues over the last 150 years but not so to that extent.

Im a fan of Roman history ( anyone half curious i highly recommened you check out "the history of Rome podcast" on iTunes.) and its funny when you look at into history you can apply almost everything to current day issues and almost all the time it ends more or less in the same way.

History always repeats, lets hope things work out for the best.

It seems even the russian geography is out to get everyone .

If recent media reports are not just creative journos exaggerating or an expert trying to make a name for himself with bold predictions then Mr Putin may be the least of the world worries

Also glory.

The dismantling of the Soviet Union and the loss of power in Eastern Europe is now seen by a lot of Russians as an insult to their national pride.

Resurgence of imperial ambitions. Same old story whenever a powerful country feels their greatness to be coming under threat (see also: China, Serbia, Israel ...)

I think your second point here is pretty spot on OG (less so the first). Certainly, the older generation still long for the days of the Soviet Union - and many of them never adapted to post USSR life as they'd have everything provided for them one day and the next they had to start from scratch with no idea where to begin. The younger generation though seem to have a different outlook.

This is what I gathered from an (admittedly small) sample of Russians I spoke with in Kazakhstan earlier this year anyway!

The ethic Kazakhs had a very different view though.