One of the tragedies of Russia after 1991 is its failure to come to terms with the horrors of its Soviet past. There never was a Soviet Nuremberg, something that still burdens that country today. Moscow’s meddling in the Ukrainian elections shows how that old Soviet mindset persists. Failure there might produce a long overdue rethink.
The London Times quotes Konstantin Zatulin, director of the Institute of CIS Countries in Moscow, as saying this, “The Ukrainian election means more for us than for the West…The West will lose practically nothing if its candidate doesn’t win. However, for us, it can mean a reappraisal of values and significant expenses.”
Quite what the “expenses” would be, I cannot imagine, but a “reappraisal of values” is exactly what Russia needs.