General Discussion

Its greatest expansion was under Stalin, who wasn’t even Russian. I think the only reason Putin has left the Baltics alone so far is that he still has the port of Königsberg to sail in and out of (aka Kaliningrad), though he’d still like to have a land bridge from there to Russian territory.

Agreed that we let the Ukrainians down terribly, and owe them a moral debt that does not look like it will be repaid. Certainly not as long as VVP has the pull he does with the current administration. And while there is officially no more USSR, VVP still runs the place as if he were both first secretary and head of the комитет (KGB) rolled into one. Only his deference to the Orthodox church is a deviation, and who knows how sincere that is? His methods hardly differ. There is a simple grave somewhere up there with the remains of the biological father of my son-in-law, who was dispensed with before the days when eighth floor windows became fashionable.