I don't think it benefits him either, but maybe he doesn't see that yet. If he starts feeling the losses he could still get out of it by cancelling the military campaign and pursuing diplomacy.
The wheels for this have been in motion for decades. If the US tries to intervene, the right will skewer Biden. Can you imagine the headlines if Biden went to war over Ukraine???
There's never been a better time for Russia to annex it's neighbor, at least since the fall of the Soviet Union.
It's historically accurate, but also entirely irrelevant. All that history is just an excuse.
The reason the Russian government is prosecuting this war is because it is afraid of encirclement. Ukraine's politics shifted westward, which is what prompted it to act.
The changes in language laws, the history, and all the other baggage is just an incredibly convenient excuse that justifies the action. None of it, as an end itself, is enough for most right-thinking people to start a war over.
Ukraine joining Nato is akin to the Cuban missile crisis. Nato is WW3 in the making. It's an idiotic pact that agrees if Russia does anything deemed hostile, they all have to declare war. It's the same stupid type of pact that caused ww1 & ww2. The people pushing it want war with Russia. It will only benefit fat cat oligarchs. You will pay the taxes and you will be doing the dying.
The only reason I can think of is that he just yearns for more power regardless of the costs.
Can anyone provide any possible reasons Putin would have for doing this?