Conversely, it validates the claim made by Kiev that the uprising is part of a Russian plot to repossess the former SSRs, to reassemble what was lost in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed. Putin famously said, in an April 25, 2005, address to the Russian Federal Assembly:
Above all, we should acknowledge that the collapse of the Soviet Union was a major geopolitical disaster of the century. As for the Russian nation, it became a genuine drama. Tens of millions of our co-citizens and compatriots found themselves outside Russian territory.Meanwhile The Washington Post quotes Putin as saying:
Whoever does not miss the Soviet Union has no heart. Whoever wants it back has no brain.Taking those two quotes together, Putin's intent seems reasonably clear. He seeks to rebuild the former Russian empire, without its collectivist trappings or atheism.
