If you’re wondering why Russia is sending its troops to a war in Ukraine, consider the fact that many Ukrainians speak Russian as their native language. The Russian military is prone to irrational decisions, but ruthless military campaigns can easily defeat the incompetent Ukrainian forces. At the same time, the Ukrainian military is modernising at a record pace. In other words, Putin has a problem when it comes to strategic planning.

Russia has been trying to send a message to the West about Ukraine’s growing regional power. The Russians have been building a strike force in Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Now, the 35th army from Ukraine’s Eastern Military District has been transferred to the area, and the Ukraine is warning that Russian troops are redeployed there to keep the Ukrainian army on its toes.

While Putin’s assertion that Ukraine is not a real state is absurd, he has also made clear that he intends to continue with the ferocity of his campaign. His actions since the collapse of the Soviet Union suggest that the Russians intend to continue their campaign until the Ukrainians submit. They want Ukraine to be absorbed into their sphere of “privileged interests.”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens not only the post-Soviet region, but also the security structure of Europe. Putin, as Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said, is trying to destroy the European Union (NATO), which helped keep the Soviets in check. Before the invasion, the Russian military made a list of demands that NATO rejected, but the Western alliance refused them. This is why the Russian military invaded Ukraine and NATO is so reluctant to intervene militarily in the conflict.