Russia's actions today aren't exactly demographic in nature - they're precipitated by the trade balance shifting away from oil exports, which were what maintain

Russia's actions today aren't exactly demographic in nature - they're precipitated by the trade balance shifting away from oil exports, which were what maintained post-Soviet state expansion. The pressure to move to an overtly authoritarian, expansionist regime correlates with the state no longer being able to enrich the top level. See [0] - the onset of the oil glut coincides with the Crimean annexation. Annexation in this light is a "last gasp" scapegoating play for the regime, the specific justifications don't matter that much. Russia has long had a colonial ethno-state element - the vast territory predisposes a federal model, but the best way to secure control over many generations is through blood ties to Moscow. So what's enacted through the war - what makes it a good scapegoat - is a vigorous restatement of the status quo: at least, as planned, they were going to take Kiev in a few days, call "mission accomplished" , and resettle ethnic Russians in the region. The emphasis on civilian targets is a "you aren't valuable, your land is valuable" kind of statement, inherited from the Soviet period, and from the monarchy before that. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010s_oil_glut https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010s_oil_glut