Russia is the largest country in the world and one of the most sparsely populated. With about 20 million people more than Japan’s, it occupies a territory nearly 45 times larger than that of the island-country. Yet Russia wants more. It wants to restore “historical Russia,” which, Mr. Putin claims, includes Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Kazakhstan and the Baltic region. In fact, Mr. Putin insists, these countries would not have existed, if not for the Russian empire, and it was mistaken Sovie