“Despite Crimea and everything else, Putin had always seemed an extremely pragmatic leader to me,” said Tatyana Stanovaya, the founder of R.Politik. “But now when he’s gone in this war against Ukraine, the logic in the decision is all about emotions, it’s not rational.”
VP seems to have a map in his mind of what he wants Russia to be.
Central to that map is Ukraine, which he has described as an artificial state. “Modern Ukraine was wholly and fully created by Russia,” Putin said in a historical sleight-of-hand, “namely Bolshevik, communist Russia.”
To help picture it, state TV ran a map earlier this week showing Ukraine cut up to represent which parts were “presents” from various leaders, including Stalin, Lenin and Khrushchev. Some commentators said it represents the partition that Putin himself might be imagining if he gets his way.
Opinion | How to Think About Ukraine, in Maps and Charts - The New York Times
"Ukraine is Europe’s second largest country by land area and seventh largest by population."
It's roughly 1200 km / 700 mi east-west and 700 km / 400 mi north-south
It has a population of 44 million people and its largest city and capital city, Kyiv / Kiev, has 3 million.
Also mentioning a series of polls that showed Ukrainians turning against Russia in 2014, after Russia took over the Crimea. A case of Crimea and punishment.
Then, after noting that Ukraine supplies 49% of Libya's wheat imports, 45% of Tunisia's and 30% of Bangladesh's,
Sometimes referred to as the “breadbasket of Europe,” Ukraine is one of the world’s largest exporters of grains. Prices of the commodity have already spiked, and supply disruptions could lead to increased food insecurity in countries that rely on Ukraine’s exports, such as Libya and Tunisia.
The largest shocks to the worldwide economy will likely be in the gas and oil markets. Europe relies heavily on its energy needs from Russia, and more than a third of Russia’s gas exports flow through Ukraine. As of Thursday afternoon, oil prices topped $100 a barrel for the first time in more than seven years. Some experts predict that consumers may see gas prices rise to more than $4 per gallon.
Ukraine itself is heavily dependent on nuclear energy, generating roughly half of its overall electricity at its 15 reactors scattered across the country. While the country may not export much of that energy, its nuclear power plants are still cause for concern: Attacks in that Chernobyl exclusion zone have prompted fears of kicked-up radioactive dust, which could drift across country borders.
