Pepe wrote:
carlos55 wrote:
Maybe this explains Russia`s strategy a little here. They don`t want millions of angry ethnic Ukrainians to feed and look after, like the US in Iraq.
During WWII, 1/3 of the population of the Baltic states was deported to other parts of the USSR and Soviet citizens were brought in to "Russianise" the countries invaded.
Something to think about.
I understand a similar thing happened in Crimea after world war 2 with the Tatars.
I was just reminded of what the British did in N Ireland centuries ago. They were worried Britain could be outflanked by the French or Spanish via an invasion from the west via Ireland.
So what they did they preempted it by invading & occupying Ireland themselves. Once there they poured in many British Protestants who settled in the north, which are still there today.
Today N Ireland is part of the UK but S Ireland is independent. When the logical issue of a united Ireland comes up UK politicians fall back on "self determination" of the people that live there.
Most people in N Ireland feel British and want to remain in the UK, but of course if you follow the family line back they were not the indigenous population even if they were born there.
I believe Putin is following a similar tactic here. Allowing a slow burn of the donbas through a long fight for each town that eventually gets destroyed and which is forcing people out.
If/when the whole of the donbas falls to Russia, they will re-introduce the ethnic Russians who temporarily fled back and even more Russians to live there.
Putin or his successor will eventually fall back on the self determination argument for the population that lives there.
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"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends upon the unreasonable man."
- George Bernie Shaw