Putin gets to keep his job.... Putin uses war as a way to whip up national fear...Good question. I am wondering what Putin gets out of this. Is he a fool? Is he bored? Who benefits?
Putin is a kleptomaniac.. The guy has a personal oligarch tax which he gets a cut on everything... To keep that gravy train in line you need to make sure nobody is watching... Opposition is violently crushed... Putin is as bad as any other dictator and he is good at it..
Ukraine invasion is so Putin can say these poor oppressed Russians are being saved... It complete bullshit...
The main reason he fears Ukraine is because the are looking West to EU and NATO and not to Moscow... If Ukraine join EU they could punch holes in Putin tapestry of lies.. Presently Ukrainians are half the wealth of Russians, that could be equal with in 5 years of joining EU, Look at Poland...
when they joined in 2004 Russia was growing faster, but look after the EU market kicks in.... It is constant about 4% more a year... Russian Economy hasn't been growing that much since the crash...
How does Putin paint the EU as evil if Ukraine prospers?