At some point the argument that consolidating more oil and pushing for more gas/oil monopoly would have been part of the play. But now, any unbelievably mediocre economist would just say the roi is somewhere 5 generations in the future (if at all) and the sunken cost fallacy is raping Russia liberally through all echelons.
Not really saying there is logic to the madness, other than some internal motivations (apart from delusions of grandeur imperialistic pursuits).
s/Israel/Gaza/ and s/Hamas/Israel/