> It is no difference for him whether they are placed in Murmansk or in Crimea, the costs are the same This makes no sense. Of course it costs money to move tr

> It is no difference for him whether they are placed in Murmansk or in Crimea, the costs are the same This makes no sense. Of course it costs money to move troops, resources, and cargo thousands of kilometers. > I don't see how this new war is in Putin's interests Besides the obvious goal of combating NATO expansion and taking control of the Black Sea, isn't Ukraine also sort of a threat to Russia? You've got a country with soldiers less than 800km from Moscow that is cozying up to the West and developing ICBM technology. From a military strategy perspective it makes sense to turn it back into a buffer zone.