This is going to need a bump because Russia is amassing enough troops on Ukraine's borders to invade the entirety of Ukraine.
With negotiations deadlocked, Moscow is continuing to build up its military forces for a possible invasion
www.theguardian.com
I do find it interesting how poorly informed the American public is on this subject. It's difficult for us to get it because we don't live in a country where our goals as a country are hampered by location and how much the rest of the world hates us. There is a natural gas field off Ukraine's Black Sea coast that would allow Ukraine to become energy independent, and therefore allow Europe to become energy independent from Russia. The fact is that the earthquake in Japan was one of the worst things that could ever happen in terms of ceasing our reliance on fossil fuels. Countries panicked and closed down nuclear plants, European countries are chiefly among them, and now Russia can tighten the noose. Their quasi-invasion in Eastern Ukraine didn't go very well and there was some talk that Ukraine would move their military in and crush the rebels this summer. Well obviously Russia isn't going to leave that to chance.
I know it's hard for some people to believe that they're going to invade, we are so jaded and war weary that we just don't believe the rest of the world doesn't feel the same way as we do. There are also obvious reasons why they would invade now and not later. We are in a state of upheaval and turmoil. Germany just replaced their government, our government continues to be weak, the UK government is weak. I think our constant exposure to anti-Russian propaganda has led to an inability to understand the logical reasons why they would do something and instead use past history as a cudgel with which to assume they're operating upon.
I don't think this invasion is a good idea and I don't think it will go well for Russia, but the reasons why they would do it are obvious beyond simply a hope for expansion or 'a return to Soviet ways.' They're going to do it because we are weak, we are tired of war for really good reasons, and most importantly we will let them do it so why not do it. The key thing here is that there are going to be Russian tanks invading a European capital and I don't know how the average European is going to react to that.