A Russian empire 'from Dublin to Vladivostok'? The roots of Putin's ultranationalism
LONDON — Russian President Vladimir Putin's ambitions and his ruthless style of achieving them in his invasion of Ukraine can be traced at least in part to a handful of conservative Russian thinkers who, like him, came to prominence in a post-Soviet nation struggling to find its identity, and who have helped mold his ideology.
"You cannot get inside Putin's head at this very moment," said Marlene Laruelle, a historian of Russia and political scientist at George Washington University. But "there is a history of advisers, formal and informal, and thinking that has surrounded him over the years that you can look at to understand
