If powerful enemies wanted to invade Russia, they would have to do so through a former Soviet republic. This is why it is important to know each and every former Soviet republic! 🔴 Soviet Union vs Russia At its greatest extent, the Soviet Union consisted of a total of 15 Soviet republics, and Russia was one of those 15. And although Russia today is by far the largest country on the planet at more than 17,000,000 square kilometers/6,600,000 square miles, the Soviet Union was much larger still, covering an area of more than 22,000,000 square kilometers/8,600,000 square miles, more than twice the size of the USA or China. And while Russia today has a relatively small population of about 147 million people, the Soviet Union was home to nearly 300 million people. 🔴 The Soviet Union after World War 2: While the defeat of the German fascists in World War 2 under Soviet leader Joseph Stalin strengthened the Soviet Union enormously, partly because it gained a number of progressive forces from Eastern European countries as allies, including the progressive forces of East Germany, the anti-communist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and his supporters managed to fatally weaken the Soviet Union within the short period of 5/6 years of Gorbachev's rule, which lasted from 1985 to 1991. While only a few Soviet republics split from the Soviet Union before 1991, the Soviet Union was finally dissolved in December 1991, and its core, Russia, lost more than 5 million square kilometers /1.9 million square miles as a result, and almost half its population. Each of the Soviet republics became a separate country, which had strengthened the power of some politicians and rich people in the republics and made local and international corporations hundreds of billions of dollars, but was a disaster for ordinary people. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union under Gorbachev, socialism was also dissolved. During the rule of Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-1991) and Boris Yeltsin (1991-2000), the Russian people and the people in the other former Soviet republics were brutally exploited and otherwise neglected, a process that was only largely reversed when Vladimir Putin assumed the presidency in 2000. Nevertheless, the loss of land, citizens and allies, and especially the loss of the socialist system in the former Soviet Union, has severely weakened each individual Soviet republic, including Russia. 🔴 Was the real purpose of the dissolution of the Soviet Union to weaken Russia and not to "end the Cold War"? It is a fact that Russia today is much weaker than the Soviet Union before Mikhail Gorbachev, even if President Putin has largely reversed many negative trends. Nevertheless, the loss of territory and population, and not least the loss of the socialist system, have made the once colossal country, which was a beacon against imperialism, vulnerable. Moreover, Russia's enemies have succeeded in installing anti-Russian governments in several former Soviet republics. If powerful enemies wanted to invade Russia, they would have to do so through a former Soviet republic. This is the only way into Russia for invaders. To the north, Russia borders the icy Arctic seas; to the east, Russia has long borders with China - Mongolia lies sandwiched between Russia and China. For obvious reasons, there will be no invasion via China. The enemy must use Russia's western borders. But that did not work well against the Soviet Union in World War II, as we all know. On a side note: Ukraine was also used against Russia in World War II, just like Ukraine is used against Russia today. Today, Ukraine poses no real challenge to Russia, as long as NATO forces don't fully enter the conflict. That is why for now, Russia's military operation against Ukraine is deliberately kept on a low flame. But there are other former Soviet republics - those in Asia. And if adversaries could co-opt these former republics - apart from the western former Soviet republics like Ukraine - such a scenario would multiply the real threat to Russia, given Russia's relative weakness compared to the Soviet Union. The possibility that more powerful forces than in World War II could build up their military infrastructure not only on Russia's western borders but also on its southern borders in Asia poses a real problem for Russia today. The future of Russia could be in danger, depending on what happens in the former Soviet republics, not only, but especially in the Asian ones. Therefore, we should know all 15 former Soviet republics and what is happening in these republics! 🔴 Below is a list of the 15 former Soviet republics and a short summary of their political alignment (Please note that Russia spans 11 real time zones in Europe and Asia, UTC+2 to UTC+12). EUROPE 1) The Russian SFSR (Soviet Federative Socialist Republic) is now the Russian Federation. Under President Vladimir Putin, Russia has regained much of its strength and independence. 2) The Belarusian SSR is today Belarus. Since 1994 the President of Belarus is Alexander Lukashenko. When the Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991, Alexander Lukashenko was the only leader in Belarus that opposed the dissolution of the Soviet Union. (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alexander-Lukashenko : He [Lukashenko] was the only deputy to oppose the December 1991 agreement that led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.) The Belarusian SSR was a bulwark against German fascism during the Second World War, and today Belarus is a bulwark against the expansionism of the German-led European Union (EU) and the USA. In 2020, there was an unsuccessful color revolution in Belarus supported by the West. The West is currently hosting its own presidential candidate for Belarus, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, in an EU country, either Poland or Lithuania. 3) The Ukrainian SSR is Ukraine. During the Second World War, the Ukrainian population was divided, much like today. One part of the Ukrainian population collaborated with the German fascists, while the other part of the population fought them bitterly. History seems to be repeating itself in Ukraine. Ukraine experienced a mixture of coup and fake "color revolution" in 2014. As there are a large number of Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine, the anti-Russian policies enforced in Ukraine immediately after the 2014 coup led to the secession of the Donbass region, which was part of eastern Ukraine, and the accession of Crimea to the Russian Federation. 4) The Moldavian SSR is Moldova. Moldova is a smaller western former Soviet republic. Unlike Ukraine, Moldova does not border Russia. It does, however, border Ukraine. The US-led West has recently, in 2019/2020, managed to install the puppet government of Maia Sandu. Once the West has installed a puppet, it seems virtually impossible to undo it. The collective Western forces have proved extremely effective in organizing coups and fake color revolutions, especially in former Soviet republics. Moldova is not yet a member of the German-led EU and NATO, but Maia naturally aspires to be, obviously. 5, 6, 7) The Estonian SSR is now Estonia, the Latvian SSR is Latvia and the Lithuanian SSR is Lithuania. These three tiny former Soviet republics on Russia's western borders, also called the Baltic States because they border the Baltic Sea, have always had strong anti-communist and fascist forces in their ranks. In addition, there is a relatively large number of Russian speakers in their countries, who have faced increasing discrimination and exclusion, especially in the last few years. The Baltic states are close to Sweden, Norway and Finland. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have been firmly integrated into the German-led European Union (EU) and the US-led NATO pact for many years. ASIA 8) The Azerbaijan SSR is Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is a Muslim-majority country and its closest ally today is Turkey. Azerbaijan does not seek membership in the European Union (EU). On a side note: Turkey has applied for EU membership several times but has always been refused on flimsy pretexts. However, Turkey has been a member of NATO since forever because Turkey has control over the Bosphorus Strait (and the Dardanelles Strait = together called Turkish Straits), which leads to the Black Sea. The Black Sea is where Crimea and one of the most important Russian naval bases are located. If the Bosphorus Strait were blocked by Turkey, Russian warships would no longer be able to sail out of the small Black Sea (see map). Turkey also has the second largest military in NATO after the US. 9) The Armenian SSR is Armenia. The West succeeded in installing a puppet prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, in 2018. Pashinyan came to power in a fake revolution aka "color revolution". 10) The Georgian SSR is Georgia. Side note: Soviet leader Joseph Stalin was born in Georgia! Nevertheless, the West managed to install puppet governments in Georgia since 2003, when a fake color revolution took place, led by a clownish character called Mikheil Saakashvili, who also made a brief appearance as a politician in Ukraine after the fake revolution in Ukraine in 2014. The long-time president of Georgia, Salome Surashbishvili, did not even speak the Georgian language when she was initially installed . Georgian is a very interesting language, by the way. Georgia is currently in turmoil. There are forces at play trying to outwit the Western puppets. 🔴 The 5 former -stan Soviet Socialist Republics in Central Asia are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan: To better understand the 5 former Soviet republics, one needs to know that they are all Muslim-majority countries. 11) The Kazakh SSR is Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is the ninth largest country in the world by area. Kazakhstan has a huge border with Russia and a border with China, and is therefore of special importance to Russia's and China's security. Since the retirement of Nursultan Nazarbayev in 2019, Kazakhstan's government has become inclined to introduce neoliberal reforms. In January 2022, an attempted coup/color revolution was staged but did not succeed. President Xi Jinping recently held a meeting for all 5 former Soviet -stan republics! 12) The Kirghiz SSR is Kyrgyzstan. The current president of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Japarov, is a Russian-friendly president. The political situation in the country is volatile. 13) The Usbek SSR is Uzbekistan. According to Wikipedia, Uzbekistan has gigantic power-generation facilities from the Soviet era and an ample supply of natural gas. Since 2016, the President of Uzbekistan is Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Uzbekistan can be classified as neither Russia-friendly nor West-friendly. Uzbekistan has joined and left the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation twice and is not currently a member. 14) The Tajik SSR is Tajikistan. Tajikistan has a border with Afghanistan and is working with China against infiltration by terrorists. Emomali Rahmon has been president of Tajikistan since 1994. Tajikistan under Rahmon is close to Russia but also to China. 15) The Turkmen SSR is Turkmenistan struggles with trying to keep its independence from everyone. Turkmenistan's constitution commits the country to neutrality. (Article from May 2023: https://turkmenistan.gov.tm/en/post/72402/conference-constitution-and-state-flag-day-country) 🔴 Other important features that should be mentioned about the 5 former Soviet -stan republics: Only Kazakhstan has a direct border with Russia, although Turkmenistan, like Russia, is a littoral state of the Caspian Sea. The Caspian Sea region is rich in oil and gas. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have a border with China. Uzbekistan has no border with either Russia or China, but it does have a border with the other four Central Asian former Soviet republics. It is also important to note that Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have a border with Afghanistan. In addition, Turkmenistan has a long border with Iran. 🔴 The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is a Russian-led military alliance that was established in 1992. Through the Western-backed government overthrows and other factors, Russia has lost a few members, namely Ukraine, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Uzbekistan. The following 6 countries are still members: Russia, of course, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Armenia. However, Armenia under Nikol Pashinyan might also leave the alliance soon. (Article from March 2023: https://eurasianet.org/armenia-further-downgrades-participation-in-csto) There is still a lot more to know about the former Soviet republics, their political outlook and their importance for Russia's and even China's security. Hopefully this brief summary has given some readers a little insight into the importance of the former Soviet republics and convinced you to follow all the new developments in these countries.
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