Vladimir Putin's regime is a chauvinistic, nationalistic kleptocracy, unsatisfied with looting its own country and its own people, which now wants to turn back the clock to the days of the former Russian empire. I have spent a bit of time in Moscow, and in my experience the Russians are a wonderful people. They're warm. They're smart. They're philosophical. They've made a huge contribution to human civilisation, and my heart goes out to them that they have been so poorly served by their own political masters for nearly their entire history.