Rob Evans
WHAT IS RUSSIA'S END GAME?
President Putin is a chess master and has a HUGE ego. Right now, he has the entire world is hanging on every word he speaks and every action he takes.
You have to understand that the ?Russian people have a deep fear, passed down through the centuries, of
being invaded. Invasions are a big part of the story of Russia. That is why, during the Soviet Union days, they built and controlled the Eastern Block countries so they would have a buffer zone around it so that any invading army would have to go through before they got to Russia. They built a wall and made the other countries pay for it.
In WW 2, Russia suffered millions of deaths at the hands of Nazis. When Germany invaded, Russia did what it did with Napoleon. They retreated all the way to Moscow and waited for the Russian winter to set in. The Germans over extended their supply lines and were not equipped for winter combat.
Germany lost thousands of troops on the Eastern Front. But it came with a especially heavy price for the people of St Petersburg. Russians in the occupated lands were tortured, killed or forced into concentration camps. The Germans cut off all access to St Petersburg (known as Leningrad at the time). Russia could have battled to save the citizens, but it would shatter their plan to destroy Germany. The seige of Leningrad lasted for almost 900 days. Between 1 to 1.5 million citizens of Leningrad died during that time, 90% from starvation. It is estimated that the deaths in Leningrad were larger than the total deaths for the United States and Great Britian in WW 2 combined.
President Putin's family lived in Leningrad during the time of the "Seige of Leningrad" President Putin was born after that in 1955 but he lost an older brother and other relatives to starvation during the seige. The fear of being invaded is real and deep in President Putin. It is legend that the offspring of those who survived the seige are blessed with a "golden gene" that makes serving Russia and its people the overwhelming goal in their life. President Putin makes good use of this legend.
President Putin was a high ranking KGB officer at the time of the fall of Soviet Union, as are almost ALL of the Oligarchs in Russia They are the Russian Mafia. Russians blamed the United States for the collapse of the economy. of the Soviet Union and East Germany.
Ukraine was one of the Founding members of the Soviet Union. President Putin still considers it a part of Russia and has always wanted it back. The Annexation of Crimea gave Russia a year round warm water port. Ukraine is rich in minerals and gas, which makes it very valuable to Russia.
What is Russia's endgame?
President Putin wants to establish Russia as one of, if not the only, superpower in the world. He wants to see if NATO is still a strong united alliance. Former President Trump spent 4 years trying to destroy NATO. President Putin also wants to see how strong a world leader and how true to his word President Biden is.
To make this even more maddening is the wildcard China. China and the Soviet Union were mortal enemies for decades. The Soviet Union was Socialist and China is Communist, two ideologies that are diametrically opposed to each other. In fact, our Cold War strategy counted on those two countries hating each other.
But, during the Trump years, most people missed that China and Russia signed a mutual defense treaty. If one country (China or Russia) was attacked by any other country, the other country (China or Russia) would provide aid, support and military resources and personnel to help the country being attacked.
China is playing a wait and see game by stroking President Putin's ego. President Putin feels that he can invade Ukraine with impunity. Any country that sends in troops to defend Ukraine would, in turn, be attacked by China. That is why he has amassed over half of Russia's military on Ukraine's border. If he successfully takes over Ukraine with no serious consequences, it will be a signal that the US is weak and can't uphold it's promises to other countries and won't help NATO countries (former Eastern Block countries) if Russia invades.
China is watching this closely. If Russia is successful it will be a green light for them to step up their aggression in the Pacific, especially against Taiwan, the Phillipines and other Pacific nations to control trade routes and reclaim land that claim to be Chinese soil due to the weakening of the United States position as a world leader during the Trump Administration.
President Putin has to be very careful. If he goes to far, China will hang him out to dry. He takes all the risks and they reap the benefits no matter how it turns out. Remember, the Russian government only cares about Russian citizens and the Chinese government only cares about Chinese citizens and both want to be the Superpower in the world
Presidents Jimmy Carter, George W Bush and Barack Obama have all publicly denounced Russia's actions in Ukraine. Only former President Trump has publically spoken about the brilliance of President Putin's actions and agrees with his motives.
This was designed as a test of President Biden after former President Trump lost the election. Remember, most of that "feeble, weak, stumbling, senile, etc" rhetoric about President Biden is coming from Russian bots, Republicans and Fox News.
Now Russia and China are seeing if it's true. Like I said, President Putin is a chess master.
Ron Tello Culley
What does Russia have that's so precious? Fishing? Industry? Hot women? That's everywhere. I don't get it...
