' In the early 2000s, Russian President Vladimir Putin was finishing his first presidential term when two colour revolutions struck nearby - the first in Georgia in 2003 and the second in Ukraine in 2004. Large crowds in Tbilisi and Kiev demanded democratic change and major political reforms. The possibility of a colour revolution erupting in Russia seemed too real.

It was then that the Kremlin looked to the right. Russian observers would later identify this strategy of employing nationalist forces as "controlled nationalism".'

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.aljazeera.com/amp/indepth/features/2017/11/death-russian-171123102640298.html

" The Crimean peninsula was annexed from Ukraine by the Russian Federation in February–March 2014. Since then, it has been administered as two Russian federal subjects—the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol.[33] The annexation was accompanied by a military intervention by Russia in Crimea that took place in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution and was part of wider unrest across southern and eastern Ukraine.[34][35] "

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation

" In April, demonstrations by pro-Russian groups in the Donbass area of Ukraine escalated into anarmed conflict between the Ukrainian government and the Russia-backed separatist forces of the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. In August, Russian military vehicles crossed the border in several locations of Donetsk Oblast.[27][66][67][68][69] The incursion by the Russian military was seen as responsible for the defeat of Ukrainian forces in early September.[70][71] "



https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_military_intervention_in_Ukraine_(2014%E2%80%93present)

" Since 2014, following years of embrace of Russian influence in the country, Lukashenko has pressed a revival of Belarusian identity, following the Russian annexation of Crimea and military intervention in Eastern Ukraine. For the first time, he delivered a speech in Belarusian (rather than Russian, which most people use), in which he said, “We are not Russian — we are Belarusians,” and later encouraged the use of Belarusian. Trade disputes, a border dispute, and a much relaxed official attitude to dissident voices are all part of a weakening of the longtime warm relationship with Russia.[7] "

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belarus%E2%80%93Russia_relations

" Russian officials and Chechen separatists have regularly and repeatedly accused the opposing side of committing various war crimes including kidnapping, murder, hostage taking, looting, rape, and assorted other breaches of the laws of war. International and humanitarian organizations, including the Council of Europe and Amnesty International, have criticized both sides of the conflict for "blatant and sustained" violations of international humanitarian law. "

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Chechen_War

" An international diplomatic crisis between Georgia and Russia began in 2008, when Russia announced that it would no longer participate in the Commonwealth of Independent States economic sanctions imposed on Abkhazia in 1996 and established direct relations with the separatist authorities in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The crisis was linked to the push for Georgia to receive a NATO Membership Action Plan and, indirectly, the unilateral declaration of independence byKosovo.

Increasing tensions led to the outbreak of the Russo-Georgian War in 2008. After the war, a number of incidents occurred in both conflict zones, and tensions between the belligerents remained high. "

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Russo-Georgian_diplomatic_crisis