The news has been full of stories about Russia’s impending invasion of Ukraine. We know that Biden has already ceded the Donbass region to Putin, and likely even more of Ukraine will be annexed by Russia when all is said and done.
How much of Ukraine does Vladimir Putin intend to take over, though? All of it? Some of it? Just the eastern part close to Russia?
This map helps explain:
The red on the eastern side is Donbass, and as you can see, it’s mostly Russian-speaking. So no wonder Putin wants it. It wouldn’t be a shock if most people in Donbass want to be part of Russia, either.
And we can also see why Crimea was a natural fit for Russia.
It seems inevitable that Ukraine is about to get smaller, with at least Donbass being ceded to Russia.
The question is, how much of that pink region will also end up under Putin’s control? That’s the area where both Russian and Ukrainian are spoken, meaning it’s tough to say how much of it Putin has designs on annexing along with Donbass.
I would assume he’s eyeing the area closest to the Black Sea, the parts of Ukraine that have coastline. It’s possible Putin wants the entire pink part, I really have no idea.
He might even want all of Ukraine. I guess we’ll find out.