It's not geography, it's history and ethnicity. Putin view Ukraine as a natural part of the Russian Empire - they are his vassals. They can't have a free and

It's not geography, it's history and ethnicity. Putin view Ukraine as a natural part of the Russian Empire - they are his vassals. They can't have a free and prosperous Ukraine that has 'gone to the side of the west'. The Crimean peninsula is just a bonus.