Halya Coynash: Putin and Stalin both invaded to ‘protect ethnic minorities’
![](https://archive.kyivpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/26/p1ar3hddgpv51n0m1hjjp364ti4/original.jpg)
It is 77 years since the Soviet Union invaded what was then Poland, and two and a half years since Russian troops seized control of Ukrainian Crimea.