More saber rattling? Or something else?
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Russian lawmaker and Vladimir Putin ally Aleksey Zhuravlyov went on national TV Friday to warn that Poland has "probably started to realize that they are next."
"Another question is to you, guys in the West, what are you going to do about it?" Zhuravlyov asked in reference to Putin's imperial ambitions. "They understand very well that Ukraine is finished. So what's next? Sweden is getting ready and so are the Balkans. The Poles have quieted down a bit, they probably started to realize that they are next. Of course, we have no illusions, but we understand that all of them are getting ready for the next stage of war."
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Zhuravlyov's statement can be read as a warning to the NATO countries closest to Russia but also as a warning to the Russian people to prepare themselves for much more war. My assumption is that it was meant as both.
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If Zhuravlyov is saying it, there's a decent chance Putin is thinking it. He called the dissolution of the Soviet Union the "greatest geopolitical catastrophe" of the 20th century and that it was, in reality, the demise of "historical Russia." It's a typical Russian attitude that "Russia" includes a lot of places that aren't Russia and would rather not be ruled by Moscow. Ukraine, for example. Or Poland.