Russia"s Decision to Invade Ukraine and Putin"s Perception
Journal: The Journal of Slavic Studies
Year: 2022

The results of analyzing President Putin’s perceptions that influenced Russia"s decision to invade Ukraine are as follows. First, Putin perceives Russians and Ukrainians as one indivisible people, denying the concept of "Ukrainians" as an independent people. Second, he does not acknowledge Ukraine"s territory and borders, claiming that they were initially arbitrarily determined by Bolsheviks without consideration of historical grounds, and that they were only administratively altere within the S