Preparing a Nation for War

On February 24th 2022, the largest military operation in Europe since the end of WWII was launched. Russian tanks, infantry, artillery, and planes entered sovereign Ukrainian territory following the recognition of two breakaway rebel republics in the East. As of writing this script, 20 days have passed since Russian troops crossed the border and unknown thousands of lives have been lost - both military and innocent civilians.
When the war began it appeared to come out of nowhere. After months of military posturing on the border, very few truly believed a full-scale invasion would become a reality. But, when looking through the past it’s easy to see how this was inevitable. For decades Russia’s elite under Vladimir Putin have been carefully undertaking the delicate process of preparing the Russian people for war. We were simply too blind to see.

Subscribe to my Patreon:   / mtwright  

Donation Links to help Ukraine:
https://www.icrc.org/en/donate/ukraine
https://donate.redcrossredcrescent.or...
https://bank.gov.ua/en/news/all/natsi...
https://www.unicef.org/ukraine/en
https://armysos.com.ua/pomoch-armii
https://internationalmedicalcorps.org...
https://www.comebackalive.in.ua/

Sources:
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs...
Potulnytskyi, V.A., 1998. The Image of Ukraine and the Ukrainians in Russian Political Thought (1860-1945). Acta Slavica Iaponica, 16, pp.1-29.
https://actualcomment.ru/surkov-mne-i...
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lseih/2020/07...
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2016/0...
Paul, Christopher and Miriam Matthews, The Russian "Firehose of Falsehood" Propaganda Model: Why It Might Work and Options to Counter It. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2016. https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspective....