Russia has been trying to justify its invasion of Ukraine by pretending that it is still a superpower with a “natural” sphere of influence which it claims Ukraine is within. However, if Russia is a superpower so is Great Britain and France who also have nuclear weapons and who also in the past claimed “spheres of influence”. Both Great Britain and France have had to come to terms that they are NOT superpowers anymore and they do not have natural spheres of influence. Russia needs to do the same. It is NOT a superpower. It has nuclear weapons but so do 9 other countries. It’s economy is 9th in the world. As Putin has recently demonstrated, its army is in a sorry state. Putin is under the illusion that Russia should be a super power with a natural sphere of influence. It seems Roger Waters has bought into that misconception. The reality is that the days when Russia could be considered a superpower are long gone. Hell, they are reduced to buying weapons from Iran! If Putin remains and this old thinking persists it will never be again. Roger Waters should study history and look to the future and NOT the past as Putin is doing. Lets face it, if there is a sphere of influence at work it is the EU much more than Russia, and Ukraine belongs more in the EU than it does with a tired country like Russia. Russia is too much of a looser for a country like Ukraine to want to be part of. They know better. So do the Poles, Baltic States, Finland etc. They have seen Russia first hand. They have lived it. And they reject it totally. The shame is that Putin is perpetuating a myth that holds Russia back. Old think is not what Russia needs. Like Ukraine, Russia needs to look to the future and Putin is not it.