> a defensive war that is somehow being fought entirely on another country’s territory Russia figured out the magic trick to modern annexation. International l

> a defensive war that is somehow being fought entirely on another country’s territory Russia figured out the magic trick to modern annexation. International law now mostly holds that you can't take land in a war, but that a country's sovereignty arises from the democratic will of the people living there. So Russia just invades under any pretense it likes, and holds "elections" where they get "the will of the people" to be whatever they tell it to be. Like joining Russia. It's a sham, entirely, but it means they can tell their own people that they are following the law and it's everyone else that's against them. And so now they can say "look, we did the song and dance that makes this Russian land, so we're defending 'our' people now".