Muscle flexing by Russia is becoming suspicious of internal weakness.

August 5, 2014
The Guardian

...Twice in the past (click here) it has seemed as if a path away from confrontation might open up. The election of Petro Poroshenko in May was one such moment. The new president spoke with Vladimir Putin on the telephone, even met him briefly, and Russia hailed his “positive thinking”. But the opportunity, if such it was, slipped away. The downing of the Malaysian airliner last month offered another chance for re-evaluation. The tragedy was so shocking that a change of policy would not have been seen as a Russian defeat, while the Kiev government and its allies might also have been able to shift ground without looking weak.

At the very least a pause in the fighting while the crash was investigated might have been expected. But the fighting did not slacken. It got worse, as the Ukrainians continued to squeeze rebel-held territory. The fall of Slavyansk in early July had already marked a change in the military balance. The once outclassed Ukrainian army was on the offensive, an offensive that today threatens the two major cities still under rebel control. President Putin may soon face a choice between accepting that the game, in its present form, is lost, or intervening to push the Ukrainians back.

He is certainly assembling the means to do so, dispatching to the bordera combat-ready force that could, if it crossed into Ukraine, rapidly transform the situation. Nato sources suggest that the cover for such an incursion might be to label the troops as peacekeepers....

I think President Putin is more worried about the image of Russia than it's actual prowess. There is no doubt Russia could overrun Ukraine, but, it would be a threat not only to Ukraine but the former Soviet states currently members of NATO and Europe.

The Ukrainian people have spoken loud and clear, they want an autonomous country. Scary thought to that of Russia's internal political environment. If Russia isn't flexing it's muscles on a regular basis it runs the risk of appearing to crumble. That serves many, many purposes including the morale of the Russia military. But, the morale of the Russian states has to be supported as well.

The Russian Federation comprises 83 federal subjects. These have the same representation in the Federation Council but they have different amount of autonomy. 

The 83 subjects are: 
* 46 oblasts (provinces) 
* 21 republics (nominally autonomous) 
* 9 krais (territories) 
* 4 autonomous okrugs (autonomous districts) 
* 1 autonomous oblast (the Jewish Autonomous Oblast) 
* 2 federal cities (Moscow and St. Petersburg) 

We could say that there are no "states" in The Russian Federeation because none of the subjects are called "states". If we compare U.S. states with the Russian subjects then the republics are very similar to the states because they have both their own constitutions and governments.

Loyalty will not be the only support to politics if the lights don't go on. And there are the wealthy and comfortable oligarchs. With so many authorities it is difficult to know exactly what is going on in Russia. Besides that, there are the ethnic and religious in Russia. 

This is suppose to be the distribution of Muslims in Russia. (click here)

May 6, 2011
By Fred Weir
Nearly 20 years (click here) after the collapse of the atheistic Soviet Union, a recent poll found that 82 percent of Russians classify themselves as religious believers. But far fewer subscribe to organized religion....

The separation of Russia identity is so varied it keeps a Russian President up at night. There is strong concern for the stronger and stronger and more rigid demands of the Russia government and their "Russian Speaking" priorities. Unfortunately, the tighter the hold a government seeks to contain within it's borders the more likely Russians will silently commit in their hearts of hearts, they aren't sincerely Russians anymore.

President Putin is correct to seek to strengthen his economy while protecting his consumers and even extending higher pay rates to all citizens to make Russia more attractive and tempting. But, to endorse a government that seeks loyalty of a highly diversified population by enforcing a Russia identity while possibly punitively isn't nearly as attractive and creates a negative view of the Russian political climate.

VORONEZH, August 5 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin (click here) said Tuesday he has told the government to retaliate against Western sanctions.

“I have already prepared such instructions today,” the president said during a working trip to the Central Russian Voronezh Region.

“Of course, it should be done very carefully, so that domestic manufacturers are supported without detriment to consumers,” he added.

Putin said that the use of political instruments to put pressure on the Russian economy is “against all norms and rules.”

“Political instruments for putting pressure on the economy are inadmissible, this is against all norms and rules. In this respect, the Russian government has already come forward with an array of retaliatory measures to the so-called sanctions imposed by certain states,” he said.

The Russian leader said producers in various countries should be in an equal environment and this meets the national security interests and also the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

In July, the United States and the European Union announced new economic sanctions against Russia amid the Ukrainian crisis. Moscow has repeatedly called such measures counterproductive and stressed that Russia was not one of the sides of Ukrainian conflict.

The troop build up along the Russia border serves many purposes, but, President Putin sincerely isn't in a conflict. If Russia were to enter into a war economy I am not completely confident there would not be a repeat of December 2, 1991. Is that date correct? Yeah, December 2, 1991.