Strategy—Obliterate and Liberate

The standard USSR military doctrine was to suddenly flood the targeted territory with overwhelming force, and install and maintain a communist, Russian-friendly regime, using secret police to enforce compliance and state-run media to unrelentingly thank Russia for liberation.

RIA Novosti, the Moscow-based news outlet, is unapologetically open about the Russian objectives in Ukraine. After winning control by military means, Russia will dismantle the Ukrainian Army, establish Russian-controlled police and civic authorities, edit the libraries, and erect proper Russian statues, while introducing a 25-year plan to eliminate Nazis.

Ukraine, and the world, knew exactly what was coming. It felt like Stalin all over again.