As to how we decide nations, my limited experience with Ukrainian coworkers is that is best to not call them Russian for funsies. They don’t get the joke. The national identity is strong. No doubt we screwed around in their politics but they have had multiple votes and constitutional amendments that says they look west. We promised them security for giving back the nukes. The guy deposed by their revolution lives in exile in Russia. A good party member too. So it is not like vlad was sitting over there minding his own.