# Back-story on Russia's SpecMilOp in Ukraine **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** ukraine-invasion\ **Created:** [September 30, 2023, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-story-on-russias-specmilop-in-ukraine/990921 "2023-09-30T20:00:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2023, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-story-on-russias-specmilop-in-ukraine/990921/21 "2023-10-02T23:09:33Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Russia was just one tiny republic under the Soviet Union. You are thinking of the Empire: The Russian SFSR was not tiny. It included most of the territory in the Tsardom of Russia, around 1700: [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/Soviet_Union_-_Russian_SFSR.svg/888px-Soviet_Union_-_Russian_SFSR.svg.png?20180912013211) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/Soviet_Union_-_Russian_SFSR.svg/888px-Soviet_Union_-_Russian_SFSR.svg.png?20180912013211) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2023, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-story-on-russias-specmilop-in-ukraine/990921/22 "2023-10-03T02:55:49Z")
I’m guessing the Russians (or at least Russian leaders) want all the territory it held under the Soviet regime and all the territory it held under the Tsarist regime. And probably some territory if feels they should have held under those regimes. So Ukraine, Belarus, Finland, Poland, Afghanistan, Alaska, Manchuria, and Turkey are all on the table. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2023, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-story-on-russias-specmilop-in-ukraine/990921/23 "2023-10-03T04:38:49Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > The Russian SFSR was not tiny I should have been more clear that it was a “tiny” republic. In any case, as Little\_Nemo observes, look at what’s left on the map! ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2023, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-story-on-russias-specmilop-in-ukraine/990921/24 "2023-10-03T05:31:24Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Yes but those lands to the west were not controlled by Russia eight hundred years ago. Why would Sergey Mardan cite as the ideal a period when Russia was smaller in order to justify seeking to make Russia larger? The reading is probably “over” rather than “to”, the _cumulative size_ of what they consider “Russia” for the past four fifths of a ~~quart of vodka~~ millenium. Or, “_any place than any ethnically/linguistically Russian person has called home in the past couple baktuns_.” ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2023, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-story-on-russias-specmilop-in-ukraine/990921/25 "2023-10-03T14:41:22Z")
What is Russian for _Lebensraum_? ---
**Author:** ![Nightaudit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightaudit/32/17181_2.png) [@Nightaudit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightaudit)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2023, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-story-on-russias-specmilop-in-ukraine/990921/26 "2023-10-03T19:28:43Z")
жизненного пространства, zhiznennogo prostranstva is the direct translation but I think **Greater Russia** (Великая Россия) is more “Manifest Destiny” type of concept that you’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2023, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-story-on-russias-specmilop-in-ukraine/990921/27 "2023-10-04T05:26:17Z")
Irredentism is a hell of a drug. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-story-on-russias-specmilop-in-ukraine/990921.md?page=1)