Nick Greenacre

"Putin will wage war. I don’t know when, but he will. And you, Europeans, will be surprised to discover that this war is aimed at you, too... You think that what is happening in Moscow has nothing to do with you—that it’s our problem. Putin hates people like me, certainly. But through us—in Russia, or through the revolutionaries in Ukraine or Georgia—it is you he hates: your democracy, your society, your freedoms. Do you think his regime is merely a threat to us? Your awakening will be brutal." Anna Politkovskaya, in Paris, 2005. She was assassinated in the lobby of her apartment building on October 7, 2006—Putin’s birthday.

Putin says Ukrainian land belongs to Russia because of history. But what happens when we apply his logic to Russia itself? On October 22, Putin once again claimed that Ukrainian territories are historically Russian. “This is not their territory. It’s the territory of historical Russia,” he said. Interesting argument. Let’s apply the same logic to Russia. 🇯🇵 Japan: The Soviet Union seized the southern Kuril Islands in 1945. Japan still claims four of those islands, which Russia controls today. 🇨🇳 China: Vladivostok and large parts of Russia’s Far East were once under China’s Qing dynasty. Russia acquired these territories through treaties in the 19th century. 🇫🇮 Finland: Vyborg and parts of Karelia belonged to Finland before World War II. Finland was forced to surrender them to the Soviet Union. 🇩🇪 Germany: Kaliningrad was once Königsberg, a German city and part of East Prussia until 1945. 🇹🇷 Turkey: The Ottoman Empire once controlled Azov and held territory and influence around the northern Black Sea before Russian expansion. So here’s a question for Putin: Should Japan take back its islands? Should China reclaim Vladivostok? Should Finland reclaim Vyborg? Should Germany reclaim Kaliningrad? Of course, historical possession does not automatically give any country the right to seize territory today. Most of these countries do not even make such claims. And that is precisely the point. If every country started invading its neighbors to recover territory it controlled centuries ago, where would it end? Ukraine is an internationally recognized sovereign country. Russia recognized its borders. History is not a license to invade. And Ukraine does not belong to Russia simply because Putin says it does. Stand with Ukraine. 🇺🇦 Sources: Reuters (October 22, 2026); historical records and territorial treaties. Photo credit: Reuters / Russian Pool #StandWithUkraine #Ukraine #RussianAggression #InternationalLaw #UkraineWar