Some answers
Why Ukraine? It's the birthplace of modern Russia, in a sense - it's "theirs." It's also got a lot of grain and oil. And it's a huge buffer between Russia and Europe. They've already got Belarus, effectively, so Ukraine protects most of the rest of their borders from the west.
It's hard for me to see a rational Putin as going any further. The Baltics, Czech/Slovak, even Romania are all much more European than Ukraine could ever be and Putin (again, if he's rational) would remember the problems the USSR had controlling them. Plus I think Europe would stand a lot firmer against any Russian moves further west, also for historical reasons.
That said, it's an open question if Putin is rational. Some sources say he was significantly isolated during COVID so he may have developed a really tight feedback loop telling him to go for it.
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In response to this post by bourbonstreet)
Posted: 02/22/2022 at 07:22AM