russian president vladimir putin was caught off guard, both by the strength of the ukrainian resistance and the overwhelming rebuke from the rest of the world. because he basically has done the same playbook twice already. and essentially gotten away with it. first, back in the late 1990s, when russia invaded chechnya, a breakaway where public. it was under the guise of an anti terrorism operation, leading to a bloody conflict, which lasted years and left thousands dead. then, again, in syria in late 2015, when russian forces intervene in that country civil war in order to keep dictator bashar al-assad in power. for the better part of a decade, russia has been accused of bombing civilian targets in syria, including schools and hospitals, facing relatively little outcry from the international community. certainly, nothing compared to what we are seeing now. and syria is also where putin tested out internationally the disinformation tactics that russia is known for today, muddying the wa