Quote:
Originally Posted by Mull
Aside from the fact the Russians were likley liying for the reason of the troop build up... does Russia leadership actually live in fear of an invade or is it all propaganda for the masses?
Russia is a snake pit from what I understand, and ever inch of land would be hell to take. No one in their right mind wants to invade Russia.
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The area of Russia between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea is their Achilles Heal. Those ports are extremely valuable and the area is difficult to defend. Ukraine, due to the nature of the terrain, is a vector for which an invading army could "theoretically", invade Russia. That, combined with the tedious situation in places like Chechnya and Dagestan, make it a weak point if an invading army ever did come through. If Ukraine looked West and joined NATO, Russia would see it as a huge risk.
While we know that any invasion of Russia in our lifetime seems extremely unlikely, the fear is something ingrained in their national psyche going all the way back to the Mongol hordes and was only reinforced by Napoleon and WW2. When something is ingrained and indoctrinated over centuries, it is almost impossible to change that.