Good point. So let's talk motive. EVs and solar are on the verge of a tipping point that will destroy petroleum at least as the world's most important resource

Good point. So let's talk motive. EVs and solar are on the verge of a tipping point that will destroy petroleum at least as the world's most important resource. Sub-10k EVs are coming since EVs are actually a lot simpler to build than ICE cars. Russia's economy is over 50% petroleum based last statistic I read. John McCain famously called them a "gas can with a gun strapped to it." Other Petro states will fare pretty bad too. Saudi Arabia has IPOd Aramco to cash out and now via SoftBank are indirectly buying huge stakes in tons of things. This is smart, but they also have in many ways fewer problems than Russia. Russia has a demographic crisis that is compounded by young people and high skill people leaving. If oil collapses as a major revenue source they are completely hosed. They will suffer a repeat of the economic crash that came with the collapse of the USSR. Add to that the "we were once a great empire" bitterness that likely infests the ranks and it makes sense for them to try to disrupt the world order as much as possible. They don't have a lot to lose. Edit: there is also an ideological dimension. Putin is an admirer of among others Julius Evola and is more or less a fellow traveler with the US and EU neo-fascist movements.