555 for the parody Susanna... but while Russia lies, so does China, the US, Western Europe... all major powers. Russia has had a long and violent history and has been heavily invaded by Pechenegs, Tartars, Khazars, Varangians, Swedes, Lithuanians, Poles, French, and Germans!!! Russian "Slavs" originated around Kiev, Moscow, and Novgorod. They were farmers and hunters that lived in the forested areas and were conquered many times. It is hard to pinpoint the exact dates of origin for that region. Say around 1000 BC by the Cimmerians nearr the Black Sea who by 700 BC were conquered by the Scythians, who were then conquered by the Sarmatians, and so with Goths, Huns, Visagoths, Gallo-Romans, Avars, Khazars. It was the Norseman that came up with the Rus name for a region they settled as a trading post. People forget that Russia's ancestral home was Kiev. So the historical ties are real. Since being conquered so much by everyone, Russia is distrustful and VERY territorial, especially b/c of what the Nazis did in WW2. 30 million lost and devastation up to the gates of Moscow. That's why I don't judge them too harshly. NATO promised NOT to encroach on their territory and lied as well. Imagine being a Russian on the border of Ukraine that turns NATO. I don't think logically that Putin or any other Russian leader will accept that. Look at the strategic port of Sevastopol in Crimea. They rushed to annex it and yet the ethnic Russians wanted annexation just as Austria did in '38. In is not in Western interests to meddle in the Russian sphere of influence. If Russia was planning to invade the West- sure... but not in the case of Ukraine's internal civil war and not b/c MH17 was shot down over a war zone.

From your all-too-proximate vantage point, the Russians must always seem threatening. Lying is, of course, what politicians do. Just as termites eat wood. I guess you could separate lies into two components: statement contrary to fact, and act of deception. If no one believes what a politico says, I guess it is only half a lie.