Three weeks have passed since since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his violent, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. While his stated objectives hinted at the elimination of Ukraine’s defence — demilitarization — and the removal of its political class — denazification — the rationale behind the invasion is harder to decode.
Putin’s worldview is based on an extreme version of the Russian nationalist narrative over Ukraine. A core aspect is the claim that Russian speakers (those who prefer to speak Russian) and ethnic Russians are basically “Russian” and under threat in Ukraine.
