I'm glad you believe this because it scratches my trolling itch, but as I've said before, I don't have a dog in his fight.

As for Russia, I said it before and I'll say it again; I believe it most likely that they are simply playing a role in a script which was pre-determined before this show even kicked off.  At that level I don't see any 'good guys' or anyone who I would side with or support.  Russia and China are the pre-assigned winners in this act...and later will be pitted against one-another.  ('Winners' in an economic sense as most things are.)  I just need to accurately assess the situation so that I can adjust things in my personal life such as what countries I do business in.

As a former soldier I will not hesitate to recognize unexpectedly professional behavior on the part of anyone who displays it.  I've not seen many credible reports of widespread unprofessionalism on the part of the Russians, or even the Eastern forces of the civil war.  That's not to say I've not see a ton of obvious propaganda about war crimes and such, but this never comes with validation.  This professionalim surprises me.  My assessment of the observation are two-fold:  1) Russia (and friends) are winning handily and maintaining good command and control, and 2) it indicates that they are planning to be around (as background controllers at least) for a while and thus do care somewhat about the 'hearts and minds' of the notoriously fickle local populations.

Again, the Ukrainian 'defenders' of the South and East with their human shield strategies and such did a fantastic job of making the Ruskies seem like God's gift from Heaven to the local populations and a good bit of apparently relatively organic on-the-ground citizen journalism substantiates the idea that it is exactly how many of them feel.  For now at least.  I personally think it likely that this was part of the pre-agreed script.