Russia's far east has always been the most strategically vulnerable part of Moscow's fissiparous imperium, in what is the world's biggest country.
Par in parem imperium non habet is an indisputable legal maxim in the world.
To ex-subjects of the Soviet imperium, talk of officially encouraged admiration for “fraternal” nations, laced with displays of embroidery, cuisine and folk-dancing, sounds cloying.
