According to Dmytro Kuleba, former Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Vladimir Putin is conducting the war in Ukraine with the goal of making a mark in history. Speaking to France 24, Kuleba referenced the Bronze Horseman statue in Saint Petersburg, dedicated to Peter the Great by Catherine the Great, and suggested that Putin aspires to be the “third” in this historical lineage.
For Kuleba, this desire to be recorded in history books is the true motivation behind the expansion and conflict in Ukraine, outweighing immediate geopolitical or strategic reasons.