Fighting border disputes is not imperialism. Since 1992 Russia has engaged in military conflict almost exclusively with its neighbors (totalling about 5 countries depending on how you count conflicts) and has not ever taken over any of its neighbors through these conflicts and managed their economic affairs to Russia's benefits.
By comparison, the US has engaged in military conflict with none of its neighbors, and yet in the same 34-year span has engaged in military conflict with 12 - 15 countries depending on how you count military conflicts. And the objectives were either total domination and economic extraction, total economic devastation of countries operating outside their economic control, or disruption and elimination of resistance to their control. In most cases, the US took over hugely profitable economic operations like mining and opium farming or destroyed competitive economic operations like oil and gas and food production that directly competed with US corporations.
One of these is imperialism. One of these is the border disputes arising from being the target of Western dominance-oriented aggression for 175 years.
They're not "fighting NATO", they're fighting for their own imperialistic bullshit.
When you know what imperialism is
Fighting border disputes is not imperialism. Since 1992 Russia has engaged in military conflict almost exclusively with its neighbors (totalling about 5 countries depending on how you count conflicts) and has not ever taken over any of its neighbors through these conflicts and managed their economic affairs to Russia's benefits.
By comparison, the US has engaged in military conflict with none of its neighbors, and yet in the same 34-year span has engaged in military conflict with 12 - 15 countries depending on how you count military conflicts. And the objectives were either total domination and economic extraction, total economic devastation of countries operating outside their economic control, or disruption and elimination of resistance to their control. In most cases, the US took over hugely profitable economic operations like mining and opium farming or destroyed competitive economic operations like oil and gas and food production that directly competed with US corporations.
One of these is imperialism. One of these is the border disputes arising from being the target of Western dominance-oriented aggression for 175 years.