Putin's Character And The Ukraine War

I was thinking. Why did Putin claim he wasn't going to invade when he did exactly that few days later. I figured out an answer

In his mind, Ukraine was always part of Russia. Invasion is about an action to take over what is not yours.

Ukraine was his anyway. So it wasn't an "invasion". 

Here is an article on Bill Barr: Bill Barr wants to be remembered as a truth teller? That’s a clown show.

• https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/a44c8b24-9707-11ec-bcb9-65f2c5c7f961?shareToken=b62e2ad97a4531b99cb7233ba9b44aa6
• https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/03/russia-ukraine-conflict-top-10-war-myths-newsguard?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other Putin's lies are so similar to Trump's.
  

This is a lovely article: https://nyti.ms/3tYGlWF.

This article is original and different. The rest have largely portrayed a surreal depiction of how the West brought Russia to its knees. Too much focus on the process (sanctions) and desire (want Putin to withdraw) without an evidence of the end result (is Russia withdrawing) makes all the essays drab

Additional reading:

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/02/21/ukraine-invasion-putin-goals-what-expect/?utm_campaign=wp_week_in_ideas&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_ideas
• https://vbala99.blogspot.com/2020/11/trumps-character.html
  
• U.N. court orders Russia to halt its invasion of Ukraine, in a largely symbolic ruling: "If one of the conflict parties is “ignoring basic principles of law, there’s a question about the utility of invoking the law vis-a-vis that party when you don’t have a strong enforcement power,” said Yuval Shany, an international law expert at Hebrew University in Jerusalem."
• Watching Russia’s military failures is exhilarating. But a cornered Putin is dangerous.
  
• The Making of Vladimir Putin: Very nice
  
• Putin Knows What He’s Doing With Ukraine’s Refugees. This Is the World’s Big Test.
  
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/04/05/putin-indiscriminate-bombing-ukraine-plain-bad-strategy/
  
• Why Tracking Putin’s Wealth Is So Difficult
  
• https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/09/understanding-vladimir-putin-the-man-who-fooled-the-world?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other: long nice article
  
• If Putin isn’t stopped in Ukraine, the Baltics are likely next
  
• https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/af9decea-c00e-11ec-8413-422ef6319ad0?shareToken=eb4daee564fc6ee59c2b908241604fbb
  
• Banning Russian Tennis Players Won’t Stop the War. So Why Is Wimbledon Doing It?
  
• Putin Used Conspiracy Theories Before. Now He Seems to Believe Them.
  
• www.wsj.com/amp/articles/the-strategic-logic-of-russia-war-on-ukraine-putin-leverage-western-europe-invasion-peace-negotiations-sanctions-weaken-russia-11650917047: nice article
  
• https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/26/russias-war-in-ukraine-threatens-to-spill-over-in-dangerous-new-phase?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
  
• https://www.rt.com/russia/554166-international-law-military-operation-ukraine/: From Russia with Love
  
• https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/01/what-is-to-be-done-lenin-west-wont-win-in-ukraine-without-taking-risks?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
  
• How Russia’s grim demographics could thwart Putin’s global ambitions
  
• https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ca1ad6ea-d2d4-11ec-9d8b-0826aa666f4f?shareToken=8d647745a2741da86aef419884a921a3: very nice
  
• New Evidence Shows How Russian Soldiers Executed Men in Bucha: Gory
  
• https://wsj-article-webview-generator-prod.sc.onservo.com/webview/SB10602110242320993953804588549711285607342?adobe_mc=TS%3D1653059585%7CMCMID%3D20218715617449547338714924480703942152%7CMCORGID%3DCB68E4BA55144CAA0A4C98A5%40AdobeOrg&wsj_native_webview=androidphone
  
• Putin Rules Russia Like an Asylum
  
• Russia Is a Potemkin Superpower: Very nice when reading it 3 months after it was written. 
  
• https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/b16b152e-e355-11ec-8bdd-c253e043f5f0?shareToken=144ba9eaf04454046bae1a72704e845c: Should Putin be assassinated?
  
• Three Paths Toward an Endgame for Putin’s War
  
• https://www.economist.com/the-world-ahead/2022/11/18/how-putins-war-is-causing-global-instability?giftId=7a1ef58b-4daf-4e64-9d9a-2d128b7d19a4