There was a question on University Challenge last night - what country is the former capital of East Prussia now in ? This is of course Konigsberg, now part of a Russian enclave and known as Kaliningrad, occupied by Russia ever since the end of WW2. Historically they have absolutely no claim to the territory, won by right of conquest. While the British, French, Dutch, Belgian, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Austrian, Ottoman and Japanese empires were mostly dismantled before or during the twentieth century, the Russian empire continued to expand, either by incorporating territories such as Kaleria (from Finland), the Kuril islands (from Japan) and Konisgsberg (from Germany), plus Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, or by occupying supposedly independent countries such as Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. They tried to add Afghanistan to their empire but as with every other invader since Alexander the Great they found that benighted place a step too far. Any attempt to break away, such as Chechnya, has been met with massive murderous force. Only during the brief period of Glasnost and Perestroika did it seem that a peaceful end to the Russian empire might be possible and the Russian people would be able to join the free world. The outcome of the Ukrainian invasion will have repercussions throughout the Russian empire - if the Ukrainians lose then Russia will be tempted to expand into other neighbouring countries. If the Ukrainians win then the future of the whole Russian empire will be cast into doubt. Of course, what constitutes a "win" in Ukraine is open to debate, with the future of the Crimea and the Donbas regions particularly relevant. IMHO the best result would be the dismantling of the whole Russian empire, and welcoming the successor states into the free world, but achieving that without massive bloodshed would be extremely difficult.
Richard Greenhough ● 1632d