These also seem relevant:
http://www.newrepublic.com/node/118782
and:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_a..._fighting.html
This last one, along with a biography of Putin I just finished last month, has me really suspicious about how long the current hostilities have been planned years in advance.
The first one can remind us that when a population has no outside sources of information, even a large population can fall for propaganda. And the latter one can show us a valid kind of propaganda, warming up the fear of/desire to fight against "fascist invaders".