Russia stands to gain absolutely nothing from this war. Putin stands to gain absolutely nothing either. What could be his reasons:
1. He's gone insane. Possible, but this has been planned for months by many high level people. Somehow nobody within his inner circle stopped him, even though they don't seem to gain much either
2. Putin wants to show off NATO. That was the leading theory before the actual invasion. But with actual war there's no doubt that everyone will beg to join NATO. NATO will now authorize much bigger spendings and will likely put all sorts of missiles targeting Russia so to keep us at the gunpoint.
3. Putin wants to restore USSR. That's silly, unless he's literally mad. Russia stands to gain nothing by gaining more land. Invading Ukraine will not make his legacy any "great", but the opposite. Everyone in Russia is shocked at this. This is the end of him as a public politician.
4. Putin got some real intel about USA trying to assassinate or at least topple him or something like that. So he's showing his strength and freaking out. Remember he's been limiting US embassy in Russia for years.
5. Putin actually has Russia's best interest in mind and wants more buffer, secure access to the black sea and such. Also mad by NATO breaking promise about not expanding east. It's somewhat plausible, but such actions will result in the opposite of his goals. It's more like a hissy fit, than a calculated plan.
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