Kuujis, the Russians are not retarded.. It's just you don't understand their point of view.
For them, the west wants access to Russias land and resources. (Which is probably true)For them, the west is the strong world power that bullies other nations into line, which is also somewhat true.. For them, Kiev was not a revolution of the people, but a western operation. Even the russians in Crimea share this viewpoint. EU is for them just an extension of Germany.. (Which still doesn't have a great rep east of your borders Molly
)
I read about the differences between east and west Ukraine. A student in the west said:
Eastern Ukrainians don't know what the west IS.And I think here lies the key. They simply don't know that it is possible to live in a relatively humane society with rights, freedom, and law and order that works. Where politicians don't steal billions and billions. Where you have to be scared and lie and steal to get ahead in society.
Russians prefer to have a rotten system with thieves on top, rather than a system they don't know. Just, let's not be retarded here.. I for one think people like Ivani4 expressing their opinion is way more interesting than 100 mass media articles, even though I strongly disagree.
On the long term, I think Putin does this so the Russians will not know a better system, and keep himself in place.