I have both Russian and Ukrainian neighbors in my little Downtown area of Savannah, GA, USA! When we do see each other -- we talk about the "rise of Russia" in its own mind, as a "leading country" (a Superpower?) on the face of the earth. The nuclear capability is what people most talk about now -- rather than the "top world economy" that Russia once had.
Russia and Ukraine are at "odds with one another." As are many of the former Soviet Union countries that grew under Russian rule. But Ukraine is now free -- with millions of Russian-speaking citizens more loyal perhaps to Russia and Putin, than to the Democratic Republic which is the Ukraine. Russia (or its surrogates) have recaptured the Crimea, and Donetsk (now a self-declared, self-governing "republic" dominated by Russian-speaking separatists).
Will Ukraine itself eventually be absorbed by this "movement?" What about other areas with large Russian-speaking populations? Estonia? Latvia? Lithuania? And even parts of Bulgaria, or Romania, or perhaps Poland? How far does the Russian shadow fall? Brighton Beach?
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