Normally I wouldn't give much credence to a story written by some random journalist I don't know.. However, this story was published just a couple of days ago in an official Russian government supporting media forum. It also echoes many of the themes in Putin's recent speech on the de-Nazification of Ukraine and the fact that he doesn't consider Ukraine to be a "real" country.

AFAIK the single most influential Russian foreign policy textbook is "The Foundations of Geopolitics: The Geopolitical Future of Russia" , a book by Aleksandr Dugin who says it was inspired by General Nikolai Klokotov of the Academy of the General Staff and Colonel General Leonid Ivashov, head of the International Department of the Russian Ministry of Defence. It is required reading in Russian military academies. It says of Ukraine:

"Ukraine should be annexed by Russia because "Ukraine as a state has no geopolitical meaning, no particular cultural import or universal significance, no geographic uniqueness, no ethnic exclusiveness, its certain territorial ambitions represent an enormous danger for all of Eurasia and, without resolving the Ukrainian problem, it is in general senseless to speak about continental politics". Ukraine should not be allowed to remain independent, unless it is cordon sanitaire, which would be inadmissible." [see wiki]

Index of Frank's Diaries