CNN: Russia plotting false flag event in Ukraine

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Does Putin have the domestic political power for such a massive war, though? Putin's Russia isn't the USSR, where the deaths of Soviet soldiers in Afghanistan could be covered up. The word will spread that Russian troops are getting killed in Ukraine by the "brotherly" Ukrainian people. Kremlin propaganda can only dismiss these as acts of fascist provocateurs for so long.

When Crimea was taken in 2014, it boosted Putin's domestic popularity because it cost zero Russian lives. Then he tried to repeat the trick in the Donbass, only to encounter Ukrainian resistance. He maintains the fiction that Russians aren't involved in the Donbass to this day, because he can't admit at home that he made Russians die for...half of two oblasts.

As for sanctions, well, Putin and his buddies have stashed their wealth in the countries they publicly despise. If the US was really, really into psy-ops, it could declassify documents about the apartment bombings, though the timing of that will be key.

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Um, you do understand that supporting friendly relations with another country, and speaking the language of that country, is not the same as being okay with an invasion, right? Otherwise, the Irish should welcome the British army with open arms, and the same with the Austrians and Germany, Canadians and the US, and so on.