It occurs to me that we misunderstood the colonial impulses of the Rus, of which V. Putin is only the most recent avatar. Tsarist Russia was after all a colonial empire and the tsar was an emperor.
Somewhere in the middle of all this is some undefinable-by-me “homeland of the Rus” whose people had taken over and dominated the rest of that vast country. Following the downfall of the tsar, it became a Marxist entity but its core was a Russian empire. Members of the Rus, and those who adopted that identity spread out across the area included in the USSR, settled and made the locales their homes.
Empires fall apart. Typically the “left behind” members of the dominant nationality have two main choices: go elsewhere or stay put and go native.
British who were left behind in India, Malaya, South Africa, Kenya, Sri Lanka, the Caribbean islands, etc., found their status changed. They changed from high status representatives of the colonial empire, to emigres who might be at least somewhat suspect.
A lot of the Brits went home, or moved to former colonies like Australia, New Zealand, Canada which continue to maintain something of the British culture, language, and values. Some few remained where they were and tried to fit in, understanding they’ll be expats for life.
Few left-behind Russians in the Baltic republics, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, and the central Asian ‘Stans were willing or able to return to an economically beaten Russia. And they are reluctant to fit in as locals.
Putin has declared himself, and the nation he wields, as protectors of this Russian diaspora. To a substantial degree it is in this role he mistakenly invaded Ukraine. It won’t be easy getting him to back down, the Rus appear to believe they exist to rule others.
India too is a nation of nations - now the empire of the Hindi. One wonders how long it will hold together? The separations of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Pakistan and Bangladesh were the first steps in that dismantling.
China is yet another such. They are trying to force the assimilation of the Islamic Uyghurs or, absent that, their genocide. The intent with respect to Tibet is less clear, but probably similar.
