The war is over Russian nationalism versus the prosperity of the European economic and political culture, not religion. If the current Russian political/economic system were producing prosperity for Russians that was nearly equivalent to that enjoyed by people in the EU countries, then the Ukraine would happily associate with Russia. But the fact is that the Russian system of one-man rule (Putin), and extremely concentrated wealth and economic power (the oligarchs), does not offer hope for future economic success to the average Ukrainian. So they want to be part of the EU system instead. The rest of what is being said is smoke and mirrors. Putin's Russia already has, without the Ukraine, more territory and natural wealth per capita than any other nation in the world except, possibly, Canada. If Putin were a great leader for the Russian people, he would have already put them on a course to economic prosperity. Just look at what the leaders of China have accomplished with a fraction of the per capita resources available to Russia. The Ukrainian people don't want to join a nation, Russia, led by a bunch of losers. It's that simple.
