Putin and the siloviks who run Russia started this war in 2014 because they perceived a Western oriented Ukraine to be a threat to their grasp of power in Russia. They want total control over Russia to be able to continue to exploit its resources for their own benefit. For that purpose, they need airtight control over the information space in Russia. They fear that if the people who they consider culturally closest and in many cases Russian speaking get a taste of freedom, the color revolutions will spread over to their side of the border. They are no different from previous generations of Russian elites - nor the Russian masses who in their docility and passivity will go along with anything the czar and the boyars need them for - the idea of "Malorossiya" becoming independent is the greatest possible anathema as it threatens the very idea of their beloved empire.

It is the right of any people to decide about their own future. Russia's imperialistic war of conquest is the sort that should be relegated to the dustbin of history. Ukraine must be financially and materially assisted until Russia is forced to leave all Ukrainian territory. They cannot be allowed to gain anything from this war of conquest. That is the only way to keep the horde from threatening Europe in the foreseeable future. If that cannot successfully be done, a greater war awaits us all in the future.