Comments by "Henry Law" (@henrybn14ar) on "Why Putin is Losing the Information War - TLDR News" video.

Putin is essentially historically correct about the origin of Ukraine within its present boundaries. It was devised by Stalin in the 1920s, and after 1945, bits were added on from Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary and Romania. It is also the case that both the EU, the US and NATO has sought to extend their influence, which Russia sees as a threat, quite reasonably. None of which justifies the invasion, which looks like it is going to get dragged out in a prolonged and risky conflict, but it does not help in understanding to ignore how things look from the Russian perspective.
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@onionpie52 Countries don't choose anything. Their governments do the choosing. The current state of Ukraine is what happens if you make a move which the other side perceives as a threat. Finland has not been invaded. In fact, the Russians offered back Karelia, which the Russians took in 1940, but the Finns didn't want it. The Russians also tried to get rid of the former Königburg region of East Prussia but nobody would take it off their hands. Anyway, Putin has blown it because the Russians in Ukraine don't appreciate being targets for Russian forces.
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TLDR have entirely ignored how this conflict has developed.
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@andrewpaulhart The EU had demanded that Ukraine breaks existing agreements with the former Soviet countries in exchange for a trade agreement. The Single Market has to be protected. Its the Northern Ireland problem.
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@onionpie52 In a democratic country the connection between what people choose and what their politicians decide they should have is closer than in a dictatorship but it is still tenuous. Look at the way covid was handled in most democratic countries. Populations can be and are manipulated, and lack information needed to make decisions. The current debate in Sweden about NATO is a case in point. The structure of the EU is another. The Commission is an example of second hand democracy. The last two US presidents cannot possibly have been what most people would have wanted. Who selects the candidates? In the UK the most important decisions are fixed up by the Oxbridge LSE network, which also manages the schools, what young people are taught, the media and public opinion.
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Putin has made a moral and strategic mistake and it will be the end of him. However, the narrative is historically correct.
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Ukraine's Six languages and four religions make a real country like Yugoslavia was a real country, unless it is organised on a cantonal system like Switzerland. It was an accident waiting to happen. The EU's protected Single Market was also an obstacle to a successful structure, as the British have discovered in Northern Ireland. It is a good example of the old saying "if goods don't cross borders, soldiers will". But the invasion means that Putin's objective will never be achieved, and Putin himself is unlikely to last much longer.
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