#Russia

“Are you excited?” a kid-reporter asks NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. One of the youngest of the 2000 journalists to cover the NATO Summit in The Hague, he patiently waited on the doorsteps to ask his question. “I’m excited, but to a level where I can still control it,” Rutte replied, returning a smile. A few hours later, the NATO leaders' meeting would begin.

More than a decade after Russian troops stormed Crimea, the question remains: Why do Russians insist Crimea belongs to them? Professor of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Cambridge, Rory Finnin, explains that the answer isn’t just about strategy or borders but a deeply ingrained national myth.