The broad context of this is that Putin is working to restore Stalin's empire, directly or through puppets. Belarus is a puppet state. Part of Georgia is controlled by Putin puppets. Putin bit off Crimea. Putin has proxies stirring up @#$% in Moldova. Before Putin's 2022 attempt to conquer the rest of Ukraine, he had proxies stirring up @#$% in the Donetsk. Putin has his eyes on the Baltic states, and Poland has his greed aroused.
Stalin's post-WW2 empire of puppet states was not anything new. The Russian bear has been expansionist since at least the 16th Century. Different faces, different places, different euphemisms, Russia has consistently been bent on enlarging its empire.
