> Something, mostly likely financial in nature, has happened to trigger the invasion into Ukraine.
I think he believe parts of his rhetoric. Of course the majority of what he communicates is posturing and lies but we can see recurrent themes in his speeches and articles. My understanding is that he really sees Ukraine as part of the Great Russia empire he wants to build and saw an opportunity to take action following events in the Western world from the past decade or so: instability in the US before and during Trump, Brexit and other fragmentation of Europe, NATO seen as weak and useless, US switching its focus to Asia instead of Europe, the way US left Afghanistan, rise of US and European isolationism, etc.
Those people aren't just cynical crony capitalists who want to make money for themselves. They have a clear fascist view of the world, with an ideal based on a "natural order" of the strong dominating the weak and dreams of a lost glory of the past. They developed a historical, spiritual, and political view of the world that defines their culture as the one that should dominate.
I think he believe parts of his rhetoric. Of course the majority of what he communicates is posturing and lies but we can see recurrent themes in his speeches and articles. My understanding is that he really sees Ukraine as part of the Great Russia empire he wants to build and saw an opportunity to take action following events in the Western world from the past decade or so: instability in the US before and during Trump, Brexit and other fragmentation of Europe, NATO seen as weak and useless, US switching its focus to Asia instead of Europe, the way US left Afghanistan, rise of US and European isolationism, etc.
Regarding the ideology driving the Kremlin you can see those two Wikipedia articles: - the book "Foundations of Geopolitics ": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_Geopolitics
- its author and "philosopher" Aleksandr Dugin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Dugin
Those people aren't just cynical crony capitalists who want to make money for themselves. They have a clear fascist view of the world, with an ideal based on a "natural order" of the strong dominating the weak and dreams of a lost glory of the past. They developed a historical, spiritual, and political view of the world that defines their culture as the one that should dominate.