Putin declared the rebel Ukrainian areas are "ancient Russian lands"

[muriel_volestrangler]

At the end of an hour long televised speech to the Russian people on Monday evening, the president said Russia will recognise the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Mr Putin went on to sign agreements on cooperation and friendship with the Russian-backed regions.
...
During his speech Putin said that modern Ukraine was created by communist Russia and referred to eastern Ukraine as “ancient Russian lands”.

While he claimed Ukraine was planning on developing its own nuclear weapons and called it a US colony with a “puppet regime”.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/tens-thousands-russian-troops-now-151806375.html

"Ukraine was planning on developing its own nuclear weapons" is quite insane. He's going for the Big Lie. He could use that to "justify" bombing anywhere in Ukraine, and he'll claim "they were developing nukes there".

[DBoon]

1. like the "Greater Germanic Reich"?

The Greater Germanic Reich (German: Großgermanisches Reich), fully styled the Greater Germanic Reich of the German Nation (German: Großgermanisches Reich deutscher Nation) was the official state name of the political entity that Nazi Germany tried to establish in Europe during World War II.[2] The territorial claims for the Greater Germanic Reich fluctuated over time. As early as the autumn of 1933, Hitler envisioned annexing such territories as Bohemia, Western Poland and Austria to Germany and creation of satellite or puppet states without economies or policies of their own.[3]

This pan-Germanic Empire was expected to assimilate practically all of Germanic Europe into an enormously expanded Reich. Territorially speaking, this encompassed the already-enlarged German Reich itself (consisting of pre-1938 Germany proper, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Czech Silesia, Alsace-Lorraine, Eupen-Malmedy, Memel, Lower Styria, Upper Carniola, Southern Carinthia, Danzig, and Poland), the Netherlands, the Flemish part of Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and at least the German-speaking parts of Switzerland.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Germanic_Reich

[Coventina]

3. My immediate thought as well.

Putin: the Ultimate Reactionary

[uponit7771]

5. +1

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

2. Same pan-Slavism Tsar Nicholas II and Slobodan Milosevich used.

We saw how well that worked out.

[moondust]

4. Did he mention Crimea?

~
The Crimean Tatars controlled the Crimean Khanate from 1441 to 1783, when Crimea was annexed by the Russian Empire as a target of Russian expansion.
~
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deportation_of_the_Crimean_Tatars#Background

"Ancient Tatar lands" that, by Putin's reasoning, need to be returned to the Tatars.

[DavidDvorkin]

6. By that logic, Russia itself should shrink by a huge amount.

[Pachamama]

7. Wonder when Mexico will start asking back for California?

Their ancient Mexican Lands too…?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

8. Channeling his inner Hitler