The rubicon has been crossed: February 24, 2022, Russia entered a new stage in its development m the 21st century

February 24, 2022, after the recognition of the independence of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s RepubUc (February 22, 2022), Russian President Vladimir Phitin armounced the beginning of a special mUitary operation on the territory of Ukraine. The head of state noted in his address to Russians that the purpose of the operation was “to protect people who, for eight years now, have been facing humUiation and genocide perpetrated by the Kiev regime. To this end, we wUl seek to demUitarize and denazify Ukraine, as weU as bring to trial those who perpetrated numerous bloody crimes against civUians, including against citizens of the Russian Federation”. The RF President’s decision armounced the beginrdng of a new stage in Russia’s development in the 21st century and launched large-scale and irreversible changes concerning not only our country, but also the whole world. The global historical confrontation between Russia and the US-led NATO countries (between Russia and the Collective West) has entered an active phase, accompanied by a sharp aggravation of international political relations, sanctions poUcy, and armed clashes. We (relying, as usual, on expert opinions, official statistics and sociological surveys) express our own point of view on the events taking place in the world and in Russia, analyze their nature, causes, and implications.