Yes, pathetic, Richard.

Putin is a bad guy, no doubt. But he is not Hitler and this is not WWII and the continuous attempt to make every adversary of "The West" in Hitler v2.0 has long grown trite.

If Putin is Hitler, then why didn't he take all of Georgia when Georgia attacked Russia in 2008? Why didn't Putin accept Luhansk and Donetsk's request to join Russia in 2014?

Russia is the biggest country in the world. They don't need more space. They have 2x more natural resources than (for example) the US. They don't need to take other countries natural resources. What Russia does have is a fear of being invaded and broken up, as has been attempted 2x last century and one the previous.

The USSR kept the Warsaw pact countries after WWII exactly for this reason - to have a buffer to the west. Ukraine was a key in that buffer.

Russia is now just another crony capitalist country that enriches those at the top by selling resources to other countries. The EU was their biggest customer up until 2022. The EU is STILL buying shittons of Russian gas and oil, as our "bans" have holes big enough to drive a tanker ship through them.

When this war ends, the EU will quietly (at first) start openly buying Russian gas and oil again, because we can't afford to buy LNG from the US at 4-6x the price.

Why invade and destroy Poland when doing that destroys your customer base? Poland has just voted to STOP sending aid to Ukraine. Why? Because it is killing Poland's domestic economy for foodstuffs.

Transnistria wants to be part of Russia AFAIK. I don't know enough about the rest of Moldava to make any kind of educated statement.

I have no illusions about Putin being a good guy. I also have watched his ACTIONS for 20+ years and they simply don't fit with what you and many others claim is what he will do.