“Speaking in Russian-occupied Crimea, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko on Friday gave the clearest sign yet that the Kremlin plans to expand its efforts to mobilize Russians and Russian speakers in the former Soviet republics and Baltic states, people she says are loyal to their new countries but remain Russian compatriots. Russia does not want any longer to “sit quietly by and watch” as ethnic Russians and Russian speakers “in certain former republics of the USSR” are subject to become objects of “oppression and persecution” regarding their education and language rights, she insists. ” – My Comments : Preemptive justifications for further invasions? Not that there need to be any rationalizations for the actions of a deluded tyrant, as seen in Crimea and many other instances already.