The Ukrainian Gordian Knot by Victor Davis Hanson. A critique

I think, VDH  (age 70) is loosing it. This article is quite disappointing!

The Russo-Ukrainian War is not a Gordian Knot! When a megalomaniac and war criminal like Putin the Terrible invades a neighboring country by military force, the situation is not terribly complicated to deal with!

He describes the Russo-Ukrainian War as a usual or typical proxy war between big-power rivals. However, he seems to totally dismiss the domino theory and how nervous other former Soviet Union empire countries are.

Usually, proxy wars do not involve one of the big powers to invade the country or region with its own military. There is still a distinction between invasion and military support for one of the combatant parties.

To compare the Afghanistan War of 1978-1989 with the Russo-Ukrainian War is also poorly chosen as far as proxy wars are concerned. See paragraph above.

This article contains at least two curious and serious errors:

1. VDH does not mention that the Ukraine only gave up its nuclear weapons after the Fall of the Soviet Union for a guarantee of it's territorial integrity. See the Budapest Memorandum of 1994 signed among others by Russia.
2. "... independent Republic of Crimea (1992-95) was annexed by the newly independent Ukraine ...". VDH seems to suggest here that the Ukraine first annexed Crimea before Russia in 2014. According to Wikipedia, the history of this "Republic" is more complicated and does not fit his narrative easily.

The Ukrainian Gordian Knot