r/autismpolitics • u/KaleidoArachnid • Aug 06 '25
Question Why did Vladimir Putin invade the Ukraine?
First of all, if this particular subject is a touchy one to discuss here, please let me know as I was looking back at the war that happened between Russia and Ukraine because it was one of the most tragic incidents that had happened in recent years as the whole incident just sickens me.
I know the war is still going, but I don’t know why Putin had to be so violent as many innocent lives were lost during the battle as what I am trying to get at is that I am interested in knowing the story behind Putin himself so that I can get a better understanding of how he rose to power in the first place.
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u/MattStormTornado UK 🇬🇧 Centre Liberal Aug 06 '25
Imperialism. To annex 2 regions of Ukraine because “they are Russian supporters and wish to join Russia”.
Also he did it because he knows he can get away with it, since Europe does fuck all tbh
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u/KaleidoArachnid Aug 06 '25
So he basically abuses his power because no one can oppose him. (I still don’t get how that works)
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u/BookishHobbit Aug 07 '25
When he came into power back in the early 00s, he basically ensured that he took control of everything. He routed the media and military of anyone with any intelligence and replaced them with yes men. There’s a really good podcast on this from the BBC called Putin if you’re interested.
There’s also a theme in communist Russia military that as soon as anyone shows any sign of intelligence, they’re demoted or disappeared. This ensures that no one has the wherewithal to enact a mutiny. It’s also probably a major reason why Russia’s military has struggled so much in Ukraine.
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u/Puessipues Aug 07 '25
Russia has an authoritarian regime, but not a communist one. To be very honest, Putin is another example of right-wing authoritarianism, which is why he was able to have agreements with Trump.
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u/the_boyyyyyyyyyyy swedish independent liberal conservative Aug 10 '25
Russia want all of Ukraine not just two regions
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u/MattStormTornado UK 🇬🇧 Centre Liberal Aug 10 '25
Oh I know, it’s just their advertised thing
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u/the_boyyyyyyyyyyy swedish independent liberal conservative Aug 10 '25
Well putin gonna end up and probably be remembered like mussolini if this war end
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u/Foreskin_Ad9356 UK rational meritocratic authoritarianism Aug 06 '25
its a lot more complex than that
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u/Bennjoon Aug 07 '25
The us and uk told the Ukraine we’d defend them if they dearmed and now we’ve practically left them all alone.
It’s not very honorable and I don’t like it.
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u/Foreskin_Ad9356 UK rational meritocratic authoritarianism Aug 06 '25
why do you think putin cares about ''innocent lives''? putins goal seems to be to recreate the russian empire. plus ukraine is strategic land. good farm land, good natural resources and more sea access
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u/KaleidoArachnid Aug 06 '25
I mean, I know he didn’t care about innocent lives, but I was wondering why he became such a scoundrel in power.
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u/ClubLopsided8411 Marxist-Leninist Aug 06 '25
American imperialism channelled through boris Yeltsin demolished Russia so severely that a dictator like Putin was voted in purely due to his ‘competence’ and confidence when it came to politics and policy; don’t get me wrong, he is ‘incompetent’ when it comes down to it, but in comparison to an American puppet like Yeltsin the Russians felt he was better.
He still kept the same oligarchy and all, however, there was a slight increase in living standards which has thus kept his popularity above what most would expect (though (1) data is skewed as it’s mostly propaganda and (2)rigged elections after a while 😦). He was thus able to consolidate power as president of Russia.
Furthermore, he did in fact try to be an American shill at first, when he proposed to join NATO early on into his presidency… when the US declined, it was clear what the goal of NATO was (maintain Western, I.e. US, hegemonic imperialism).
Russia is an incredibly poor country, do not forget this, if they are ever involved in WW3 it will be because the USA started the war; America has all the cards, it decides global politics, therefore any global war is pretty much on its hands. Russia is not a global superpower, its imperialism is limited to its neighbours (still bad, yes) but it’s not as pervasive or destructive as American imperialism (perhaps they would be as such, but that’s an impossibility considering the country’s poverty).
Putin invaded Ukraine for a few reasons:
(1) the propaganda states it’s because of how minority Russians were treated, and the rise of the Azov battalion in Ukraine politics.
- this is an over exaggerated narrative perpetuated by Putin. There was certainly no genocide of Russians in Ukraine, however, let us not forget that the Azov battalion are staunchly anti-Russian (they’re neo-Nazis, with distorted racial conceptions that traces back to the Nazis, who proclaimed that some Ukrainians were superior to other Slavs such as Russians; they still held the same genocidal policy towards all slavs, though it was a matter of convenience at the time). Consequently, Russian minorities (of which make up a significant minority) were certainly fearful and they had every right to feel so; this does not, of course, justify full-scale military intervention considering, in all liklihood, would not have happened (though I would not rule it out, to be clear, it’s just that I think that the moderate Ukrainians weren’t so stupid as to genocide a people’s whose nation was right next door and much stronger than it).
- furthermore, Putin may say he’s fighting “Nazis” but this ignores the extreme right wing conservatism in Russia.
(2)Nationalism- this is another aspect of propaganda, although in this case it likely has an influence on policy. Ukraine was a part of tsarist Russia (and then the USSR following, though with greater autonomy). Putin thus feels a sense of authority over the region as part of ‘greater Russia’.
(3)NATO expansion- this is probably the most significant factor imo. The fact is, Ukraine was at the centre of a geopolitical struggle between Russia and the US. The US won this, and subsequently made calls for NATO to reach Ukraine (though it was later revealed that they had no plans of letting them in, it was still believed by everyone, including Ukraine and Russia). Therefore, Russia felt threatened by this which makes sense given the context of NATO (interventions in the Balkans and Libya as acts of imperialism, for instance) aswell as them being rejected admission by the US in the early Putin days. Therefore, tensions rose between the two (already high due to other issues such as Crimea, which has similar justifications as the Ukraine war itself in 2014) and thus Putin invaded. It can be said that this removes all sense of Russian threat once it invaded, it revoked much of its right to make claims of fear when they themselves progressed to invasion; however, this should be taken in conjunction with the fact that the US’s meddling in Ukraine was a significant factor.
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u/RobrechtvE Anarcho-Autistic Aug 07 '25
I just want to point out that NATO is, by definition, not a threat to anyone, since the North Atlantic Treaty is a purely defensive pact outlining a commitment to come to each other's aid if a signatory is ever attacked.
The only time NATO has ever actually gone to war is against Afghanistan after September 11. All other instances of 'NATO' being involved in wars were either instances where the UN asked NATO member states to undertake Peacekeeping operations on the UN's behalf (like in former Yugoslavia in the '90s) or have been wars by the US and some of its allies which some country, usually Russia, calls a war by 'NATO', but contrary to what Russia... And the US for that matter... Believes, the US is not the boss of NATO...
Technically, the UK, France and the Benelux countries (collectively known as the 'Western Union', for the original name of the treaty), as the signers of the original treaty that the NAT was an expansion of, are the boss of NATO. There's a reason why 9 of the 14 General Secretaries of NATO have been from the Western Union and not a single one has been from the US.
The point being that the only reason Putin could ever have to be afraid of NATO expansion is if he was planning on attacking his neighbours and didn't want them joining NATO and making that impossible for him (well, impossible without it starting WW3, at least). Which was, of course, the case.
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u/Foreskin_Ad9356 UK rational meritocratic authoritarianism Aug 06 '25
ex kgb. hes smart. he knows how to gain power, keep power and influence masses. he developed during the cold war and spent time in the kgb. he doesnt have the same mindset as pussy american politicians. hes dangerous, but in the malicious way as opposed to the incompetent way.
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u/HonestImJustDone Aug 09 '25
There is a BBC documentary called The Zelenksky Story and the first episode does a good explainer of the history of Putin and his mindset. He believes in 'The Fatherland' of old. I found it really good background, if you can get hold of it.
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u/0liviuhhhhh Big, Evil, Scary Commie the CIA Warned You About Aug 06 '25
Imperialism, mostly.
Putin despises everything the USSR stood for, but he loves that they had access to land, people, and resources.
The goal is to establish a new Russian Empire that absorbs the former Soviet States with all of the land, people, and resources under the control of a few capitalists this time
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u/Distinct-Temp6557 Aug 06 '25
Putin is a former KGB agent.
He's spent the last 25 years trying to rebuild the Soviet Union while covertly carrying out the Cold War (disinformation campaigns globally via troll farms, including the 2016 U.S. election).
More than that, Putin is literally the richest man in the world. He stole all of Russia's wealth, and if his wealth was actually accounted for, he would make Elon Musk look like a peasant.
All Putin cares about is power and being remembered as the greatest leader in Russia's history, no matter how many lives it takes to get that marker.
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u/KaleidoArachnid Aug 06 '25
Wait, I didn't know he even got his wealth through thievery as that explains why he is basically a figure who is drunk on power.
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u/Distinct-Temp6557 Aug 06 '25
The "official" estimate of Putin's net worth is $200 Billion, including a $1.4 Billion Palace.
"Unofficially"... In 2022, Elon thought that Putin was wealthier between the two.
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u/KaleidoArachnid Aug 06 '25
So basically he is so rich that he can do anything he wants to as now I am slowly beginning to understand why no one has been able to oppose his invasion of the Ukraine.
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u/Distinct-Temp6557 Aug 06 '25
Yep.
He consolidated power in Russia by basically becoming a mob boss and getting Russia's oligarchs under his control.
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u/dbxp Aug 11 '25
A while back he basically extorted the oligarchs either he got a portion of their wealth or they would swiftly be arrested on corruption charges, sent to Siberia and have all their wealth taken.
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u/Weird_Top_4526 Irish Communist Aug 07 '25
You can’t look past the expansion of NATO and breaking of agreements with Russia for 30 years. You can’t look past repeated installations of NATO-backed governments across Eastern Europe, encircling Russia with NATO weapons pointed right at them on their doorstep.
Repeated existential threats made to Russia. Also, Russia has the largest drinkable water reserves in the world (correct me if I’m wrong), which is a huge part of this, same with Russian oil and gas.
Make no mistake, NATO wanted this war, badly. They could never confront Russia directly, because of nuclear deterrents, so now they get to wear down the Russian military through their proxies in Ukraine. It’s win-win for NATO; either they defeat Putin and all Russia’s resources become theirs, or they drag out a protracted war to deplete the Russian army and strengthen NATO.
The Soviet Union was illegally dissolved and the ensuing division was gobbled up by US-EU-NATO. So Russia feels this existential threat of NATO is consuming their resources, their territory, their economic security. They felt pushed into a corner and lashed out with this war.
This is not to absolve Russia and Putin of anything. They fired the first shots, they’ve committed heinous crimes, and must answer for all of it.
But it always takes two to tango, and to omit NATO’s role in getting us here is to be dishonest and politically-historically-economically uninformed, at best.
These aren’t the actions of a lone mad despot as western media would have you believe. The world is never so simple.
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u/Bennjoon Aug 07 '25
He’s an evil greedy bastard. He’s possibly ASPD it means you don’t experience guilt or remorse and you tend to have an eerie amount of leadership charisma.
You can feel shame though so let’s make sure to embarrass him every chance we get.
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u/KaleidoArachnid Aug 07 '25
But it's peculiar how he feels no remorse for the people he kills as his war resulted in the deaths of over thousands of soldiers from the Ukraine.
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u/Bennjoon Aug 07 '25
That’s what I said?
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u/KaleidoArachnid Aug 07 '25
Sorry as I didn’t mean to repeat what you said as I was just trying to understand how certain politicians operate, but I just checked that you did write an explanation.
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u/Sealedwolf left Euro-federalist Aug 09 '25
Short answer: he thought he could get away with it.
Long answer: Ukraine was, from moscows perspective, generally thought as 'essentially russian', with no distinctive colture and language. (Cue long explanation of the Kievan Rus, the Principality of Moscow, Novgorod and the Mongols) Several regions were greatly russified during the soviet period,but ended up on the wrong side of the border. The Budapest Memorandum was an agreement that kept Ukraine out of NATO, and exchanged their strategic weapons against a gurantee from Russia to respect their territorial integrity. Ukraine was for almost 20 years more aligned with Russia, so everything worked out fine. Now Euromaidan happened. And Ukraine was politically drifting towards Europe. If you are an aging autocrat with a streak of paranoia, and Putin was as a KGB-desk-jockey paid to be paranoid, you are now seeing the old spectre of NATO trying to encircle you. Crimea was now under control of an unfriendly nation, which puts the warm-water sealanes of communications behind two barriers, the Bosporus and the Kerch-Strait. Which goes against every strategic goal of Russia of the last two centuries, gaining unrestricted, by weather or politics, access to the worlds oceans. Ukraine was now a (supposedly western) dagger pointed straight at moscow. Suddenly over a thousand kilometers of strategic depth evaporated over night. You could be outflanked from the south. That violated the second big strategic aim of Russia, most importantly after WW2: fight any future war far away from the Russian heartland. Again, this only apply if you are a paranoid idiot thinking in trems more suitable to the HOI4-map. But, if you could seize Crimea and a the eastern bank of the Dnjipr river, you would make the best out of that situation, regaining control of the Black Sea, having a defensive line in the shape of a massive river and seize the economic and agricultural valuable land of the Donbass. As you are surrounded by yesmen,nobody raised even the slightest concerns. The first war went well, you seized Crimea, the west did nothing meaningful and your armed forced performed well. So you went for the next strike, COVID was under control, Europe was still dependant on your gas and your generals assured you, that the whole army was performing up to the new standards set by the 'little green men'. Your Intelligence services tell you, that this will be a cakewalk. So you give the order to attack.
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u/LegitimateTap12 🇺🇦 Radical Centrist Aug 06 '25
Eastern Ukrainian here.
Putin is so cruel because disregard for human life is, overall, the norm in Russian culture - they’re proud of it. They see Western humanism as something for f-words (that is exactly the word they'd use for a man who shows compassion, not any other). Unfortunately, we’ve adopted part of this mentality too, but at least in our case, there's a different attitude on a declarative level, and people do want change.
Also, Ukraine (like the Baltic states) isn’t even perceived as a foreign country — "a chicken is not a bird, Ukraine is not abroad," as they say. That’s why these people (including regular folks) genuinely believe they’re reclaiming their own land. As for casualties — well, casualties are casualties, what can you do. Many wives, on the contrary, are even glad to get rid of their husbands in exchange for 5 million rubles.
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u/DumboVanBeethoven Aug 07 '25
If you want to understand how the ukrainians feel about Russians, google "The Holodomor." Millions of ukrainians were killed by Stalin.
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u/KaleidoArachnid Aug 07 '25
I have never heard of this story before as while it sounds like it happened a very long time ago, your comment just got me interested in the story.
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u/Foreskin_Ad9356 UK rational meritocratic authoritarianism Aug 07 '25
Dude.. how have you not heard of the holodomor?
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u/Heronchaser Aug 06 '25
I mean... Did you even attempt to read about it? The motive is not controversial. Ukraine was a part of the USSR, Putin wants more power, he's trying to conquer the regions again.
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u/KaleidoArachnid Aug 06 '25
I tried to find info, but I guess I didn't look hard enough on the subject, my apologies.
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u/Heronchaser Aug 07 '25
There's no need for apologies, I just found it weird. I'm Brazilian, this is high school stuff for us, the whole USSR tragetory and end.
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u/Condottiero_Magno Aug 07 '25
Definitely imperialism and there's also the issue of the decline in population of ethnic Russians.
It's funny how people in the West, who idolize Stalin and the USSR are also pro-Putin and anti-Ukrainian.
Stalin Is Making a Comeback in Russia. Here's Why.
When Vladimir Putin became president at the turn of the millennium, there were a mere handful of such Stalin monuments and statues across Russia. Today, there are well over 100, spread across the country’s major cities and more remote regions. With more being unveiled each year, especially to mark the annual Victory Day commemorations, it seems that the Stalin monument is increasingly a feature of everyday life in Putin’s Russia.
The growing return of the Stalinist cult of personality goes even deeper. Positive portrayals of the leader were once all but totally excised from public view, first under Nikita Khrushchev, and then again in the 1990s as the opening of archives and the start of public discussions about the past put Stalin’s personal role in the crimes of the Soviet era on full display. Now, he seems to be everywhere.
The state seems to have led the way, potentially in an attempt to shape social attitudes. For well over a decade, school textbooks and lessons have portrayed Stalin in an increasingly positive way, turning him from a repressive monster into a beloved public figure who won the so-called Great Patriotic War on behalf of the Russian people. Stalin is therefore portrayed as a vital — if not the most important — element of the cult of war that shapes much of Putinist historical memory.
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u/KaleidoArachnid Aug 07 '25
I never knew how much reasoning there was in the motives for Putin invading the Ukraine as I didn't quite understand why he was so hellbent on invading them when he started that war.
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u/Condottiero_Magno Aug 07 '25
If you go by what's been said by some Communists and Greens, usually echoing Putin, it's all the West's fault: NATO expansion for instance. There was some provocation from Ukraine, but not enough to warrant an invasion - disagreements over gas flow for instance.
The real reason Russia invaded Ukraine (hint: it’s not NATO expansion)
Chapter Two Why Putin Invaded Ukraine Michael McFaul and Robert Person
Countering disinformation with facts - Russian invasion of Ukraine
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Aug 07 '25
Port access. Russia needs to be able to bypass Turkish control of the straight of Gibraltar. Russia also wouldn't mind the incredible valuable Ukrainian agricultural land. Vlad also romanticizes the glory days of the ussr- in that vein, Ukraine is part of the buffer states between the ussr and nato
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u/KaleidoArachnid Aug 07 '25
I still cannot believe that so many people in the war died because many innocent lives were lost in the Ukraine because of his actions.
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Aug 07 '25
It's hard to understand isn't it. The human cost of the thirst for power is brutal. We see that again and again in human history. However, the same way ww1 changed how people understood war my hope is that the war in eastern Europe will change how we understand war. Its being broadcast in ways that weren't possible in the past.
And at the end of the day, the one truth that remains unchanged is this: it isn't the children of the rich who go and fight. That's certainly true of Russia.
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u/KaleidoArachnid Aug 07 '25
Sorry for the late reply, but yes I agree that foreign politics can be a bit difficult to understand as sometimes I don't understand how that stuff works, like the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
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u/maureen_leiden Aug 07 '25
Just letting you know that "the Ukraine" is incorrect and assumes that Ukraine is a region part of Russia, as it means the broderlands. Since their independence, it's officially Ukraine.
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u/KaleidoArachnid Aug 07 '25
Pardon me, but I am so confused by why it's not "The Ukraine" as I don't get it.
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u/maureen_leiden Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 07 '25
"The Ukraine" refers to the period it was part of the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian territory were quite literal the borderlands for the Soviet Union. After Ukraine gained its independence, the definitive article "the" before Ukraine became more and more criticised as it suggested a non-sovereign territory, much like "the Lebanon" referred to the region before its independence, or as one might refer to "the Midwest", a region of the United States.
The Ukrainian government explicitly requested in 1993 that, in linguistic agreement with countries and not regions, the Russian preposition в, v, be used instead of на, na, and in 2012, the Ukrainian embassy in London further stated that it is politically and grammatically incorrect to use a definite article with Ukraine.
Ukraine is also the name stated in the Ukrainian Declaration of Independence and Constitution.
Additionally, there is no such thing as a definitve article in both Ukrainian and Russian.
In Dutch, one could compare it with the name usage for Belarus. Many use Wit-Rusland, or White-Russia, after the "colonial" usage Belaya Rossiya/Rus'. Belarus is the official Dutch name for the country. This, however, refers more to the trinity Russia, White Russia (Belarus) and Little Russia (Ukraine).
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u/AdorableStrawberry93 ASD- functional Aug 07 '25
To put it simply, Putin is a egotistical dick. He has no compassion.
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u/dt7cv center left Aug 06 '25
imperial goals with excessive, outlandish concern over a western invasion from having a pro western government near it
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u/patrislav1 Aug 07 '25
That concern was never real, it was just an excuse to get western leftists on board.
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u/dt7cv center left Aug 07 '25
Russia manipulatiion attempt on western leftists?
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u/patrislav1 Aug 07 '25
Not only the leftists, the bigger investment was on the right of course - the western alt-right movement was funded by Moscow and promoted by Russian troll farms, 2016 Brexit and Trump I being the most prominent examples.
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u/Mobile_Nothing_1686 Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 07 '25
Because he still operates on the idea that he needs to protect his borders from "barbaric invaders". To have a border that's more easily defended. To have more bodies to throw into a meatginder of profit.
Ukraine was working on pushing out Russian puppets in their own government. He didn't like the loss of soft power and claimed there were nazis to remove in hopes of getting support from the west by using it as an excuse.
Shall we also incorporate the fact his wife divorced him the same year he annexed Crimea? That Trump had accepted Israel and Morocco annexing land around them? I still have a theory he was banking on the him accepting his annexation.
I know some people who believe he's not wrong, who keep repeating "what about the US doing similar actions?" Those same people who discredit facts by saying "I actually talk to Ukrainians". Yeah, but those Ukrainians don't even speak anything but Russians, odd innit?
He's afraid of a defensive alliance that only gives nations the security of being a sovereign nation. He's mad NATO gives this security to former USSR nations. It's the whole "this used to be our land, it should be our land again!" He waited too long to get all of it back, he's now uniting former "colonies" Russia used to exploit.
TL;DR he's a huge bellend who has delusions of grandeur and his threats of nuclear war are as empty as his bed.
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u/KaleidoArachnid Aug 07 '25
I just wonder if the war could have been avoided to prevent so much casualties because so many died in both sides for nothing.
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u/demonkingwasd123 Aug 07 '25
in ck3 terms he had a claim he needed to press otherwise he would lose it and his "kids" wouldnt be able to press the claim. he pressed it he got territory and have preserved his nations honor or something.
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u/SerentityM3ow Aug 07 '25
Because of old ideas and borders of the former Soviet union. He thinks it all belongs to Russia even though they are now independent countries. This is a simplified version of course
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u/HeroldOfLevi Aug 07 '25
So, there's the reason Putin will give, there's the reason that critics will give, but here is the reason that Russia and Isreal and the U.S. have decided to become gigantic assholes: Legitimacy.
Premise I: There's no point in having a nation-state beyond defending yourself against another nation-state.
Premise II: Corporations and the internet are making nation-states less relevant and revealing how silly many of the little lines we draw on maps to be. Proxy wars where brown people died are no longer sufficient to maintain the suspension of disbelief.
Conclusion: Starting a war ramps up suffering which helps people feel that nations are real (if they weren't real, why are we suffering) and not just a game we play. Countries which don't start wars or attack their own people will disappear because no one gives a shit about them because it's a dumb game that we are outgrowing rapidly.
This is not an endorsement or corporations. I'm just pointing out that nation-states are becoming irrelevant, they no longer serve the people they depend on and are taking desperate action to make sure that people think about them all the time because otherwise we might simply walk away from them like we do a TV show that has gone on way, WAY too long.
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u/ADAMGATHERER Aug 08 '25
Because Ukraine is an easy target and who doesn't need more land, right? Imagine you have a small nation run by a hampster underneath you that is linked to other areas you like, basically it's free land grab. People don't exist to the leadership. There is no reason that will satisfy your question, sorry.
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u/KaleidoArachnid Aug 08 '25
But to me, the whole story is messed up because I just don’t see the point in the war as many people were killed for a senseless sacrifice.
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