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The Conversation
Politics
Arie Kruglanski, Professor of Psychology, University of Maryland

Putin is on a quest for historical significance by invading Ukraine and gambling on his own and Russia's glory

A pro-Russia demonstrator wears a vest bearing a depiction of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the words "Motherland! Freedom!" during a rally in Donetsk, Ukraine, in 2014. AP Photo/Andrey Basevich

When the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991, most Russian officials in St. Petersburg’s mayor’s office were quick to replace the portraits of the Communist revolutionary heroes Vladimir Lenin and Sergei Kirov with the portrait of Boris Yeltsin, the new Russian president.

Not everyone, however.

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