Russia’s war goals in Ukraine
Journal: Canadian Slavonic Papers
Year: 2022

The paper analyzes the reasons for the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It examines both the stated goals and the deeper reasons, noting that the invasion owes more to the imperialistic policies of the Russian leadership than a desire to remove a "neo-Nazi" government in Kyiv or to protect the quasi-states of Donetsk and Luhansk. It looks also at hostile Russian attitudes toward the European Union, NATO, and the United States and the importance of the capture of Mariupol as a pathwa