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Russian aggression predates 2014

2026-08-07 · 16:24 UTC ·@rshereme ·1 min read

Brief

Author @rshereme traces Russian aggression to interventions starting in the early 1990s (Transnistria 1992; Abkhazia and South Ossetia 1991–93), through Georgia 2008 and Crimea 2014, arguing these reflect a neo‑imperial project to reconstitute the Russian Empire. The post cites poll shifts (20–30% pre‑2013 → >50% after 2014 → ~90% post‑2022) to show aggression, not NATO expansion, drives alignment and enlargement.

Why it matters

Russian aggression predates 2014: Transnistria (1992), Abkhazia and South Ossetia (1991–93), Georgia (2008), and Crimea (2014) form a continuous pattern of intervention, per @rshereme.

Key details

  • Public opinion shifted because of Russian actions: only ~20–30% of Ukrainians favored NATO before 2013, rising above 50% after Crimea (2014) and to ~90% after the 2022 full‑scale invasion; Sweden and Finland joined NATO because of Russian aggression.
  • @rshereme argues the motive is neo‑imperial reconstitution of the Russian Empire and Putin’s denial of Ukrainian nationhood (rooted in obsessions with Kyivan Rus and the USSR’s collapse), not NATO expansion; the author cites Tucker Carlson’s Putin interview as evidence of those motives.
Source evidence

When did russia’s aggression really begin?

People who don’t know the history are easily susceptible to propaganda. They will believe that russia attacked Ukraine because of “NATO expansion” or the Revolution of Dignity. But these arguments don’t survive a history test.

Remember the “special military operations” before any of that: Transnistria, part of Moldova, in 1992. Abkhazia and South Ossetia, parts of Georgia, in 1991–93. Then Georgia again in 2008. Then Crimea in 2014.

None of it was about “NATO expansion,” whatever paid propagandists and gullible Westerners blabber about. It was about reconstituting the Russian Empire – a project that began practically the day its latest iteration, the Soviet Union, fell. Until russian neo-imperialism and colonialism is soundly defeated, we will be dealing with it every few years.

Anyone who says NATO provoked russia to attack Ukraine is either brainwashed or simply doesn’t know the history.

Look at the numbers. Until 2013, only about 20–30% of Ukrainians (depending on the poll) were in favor of joining NATO. After the annexation of Crimea, that number rose above 50%. Today, after the full-scale invasion, close to 90% of Ukrainians want Ukraine in NATO.

It was russian aggression that pushed Sweden and Finland into NATO. It is russian aggression that keeps prompting countries to join – not NATO expansion forcing russia to attack its neighbors. The causation runs one way, and it isn’t the way the Kremlin claims.

Even Tucker Carlson’s infamous interview with Putin showed that the invasions of 2014 and 2022 had nothing to do with NATO. They had everything to do with Putin’s obsession with the breakup of Kyivan Rus in the 12th century and the USSR in the 20th. He cannot accept that Ukrainians are a nation. That is why he wants to erase Ukraine from existence.