Hacker News Reader

I’ve reflected on this argument recently but I struggle to see the real logic behind it. Putin claims he wants Ukraine as a neutral zone between russia and NATO. He then proceeds to invade Ukraine … if successful, territory under his control (whether explicitly shown or not, he could instil a puppet government) will now border NATO countries. How does that provide him with any security ?

View on HN

Proximity to the Russia heartland presumably. Flight time of missiles to key military positions within Russia.

I'm no military strategist but how is this not obvious?

It's not about a neutral zone, it's about a buffer zone between more sensitive areas and where NATO can place troops, tanks, and missile systems. I mean a sea separates Alaska from north-east Russia and those places are deep into permafrost territory and then there's the entirety of Western and Central Russia between Moscow (say) and there. Russia is huge. 90% of the Russian population live in the 10% of Russia that is considered part of the European continent.

It's like nobody bothers to study geography or geopolitics before they open their mouth these days.

Russian Federation I guess will guarantee the security of Donetsk and Luhansk and liberate further Russian-speaking areas.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com