[pierrem15]

This is the main reason why Putin hasn't gained the whole Ukraine and why Yanukovich lost-- when Yanukovich decided to use brute force to suppress the Maidan demonstrators, the bulk of his fellow oligarchs backed off, probably not out of concern with Maidan per se but because the use of such means would have meant the loss of any legitimacy for the Ukrainian government and the total reliance of the oligarchs on Russian power.

There was no sense in crushing the opposition if it meant inviting the Russian wolf into the sheep pasture.

Even Lukashenko in Bielorussia has backed off of some the closer "economic" cooperation with Putin because he knows the Russians would simply come in and elbow him aside.

Putin has such a bad reputation even his allies are afraid of him.

[meatloaf]

Putin never had a chance at the entirety of Ukraine. He isn’t loved by everyone in eastern Ukraine. It’s even worse in western Ukraine.