Don’t be taken in by Russia’s attempts to blame the West and Ukraine for its latest manifestation of imperialist obsessions.
Aug. 23, 2025
Photo:depositphotos.com
- 1) History, not NATO, explains the aggression
- 2) Cause → effect runs the other way
- 3) The ideology behind the war
- 4) Bottom line
Putin, Lavrov, and all the rest of the current Kremlin mob keep harping on about euphemistic “root causes” that supposedly justify Russia’s attempts to subjugate Ukraine and redraw the map of Eastern Europe.
No, it’s not NATO’s expansion, the need for “demilitarization” and “denazification” of neighboring Ukraine, and “defense of its Russian-speaking minorities,” or Putin’s personal insecurities. It’s older and deeper: Russian imperialism – sustained by a culture that has long justified domination of its neighbors.
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1) History, not NATO, explains the aggression
For centuries, Russian states- tsarist, White, and Red regimes, Putin’s Make Russia Great Again obsessives – have waged repeated wars and campaigns against Ukrainian lands; this is a long pattern, not a 21st‑century reaction to NATO.
2) Cause → effect runs the other way
Ukrainians didn’t “provoke” Russia by embracing NATO; Russia’s aggression pushed Ukrainians toward NATO. In the 2009-2012 period, support for NATO in Ukraine was very low (majorities opposed or only ~13% seeing NATO as the best option). After Russia’s 2014 seizure of Crimea, support rose into the majority; one 2015 poll showed ~54% backing membership. By 2023–2025, support reached historic highs (~89% in 2023; ~84% in Jan 2025).
The same pattern holds in Northern Europe: Putin’s invasion shattered neutrality and led Finland (April 4, 2023) and Sweden (March 7, 2024) to join NATO. That expansion was a direct response to Russian aggression.
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3) The ideology behind the war
This isn’t just “one man’s madness.” Russian imperialist ideas – central to much state discourse and echoed in parts of the classic canon – have long framed neighboring peoples as backward and in need of “civilizing” conquest. Scholars have shown how Pushkin’s Prisoner of the Caucasus and related works romanticize subjugation; broader critiques detail imperialist assumptions across the canon. Even Dostoevsky’s Diary of a Writer advanced a messianic vision of the tsar and Russian destiny. These are not the only strands in Russian literature, but they are real and influential.
4) Bottom line
Putin didn’t create Russian imperialism; Russian imperialism created Putin. That’s why blaming NATO flips cause and effect. Russia’s wars drive nations toward NATO – not the other way around – and the motivational core is imperial ideology, reinforced over generations.
The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.
The root cause is russia draining resources of a neighbouring country, then moving on to the next target. russian root causes explain how russia became so large.
They act like the parasitic aliens in Independence Day.