Fair. It just feels like you are leaping to their defence.
Putin has stated numerous times though that he considers Ukraine to be Russian and downplays their national identity. And go back enough in history and you do see a pattern.
There is a degree of that, but often it’s overplayed by pro-Ukrainian people to the degree that they believe Russia is trying to ethnically cleanse Ukraine, which is wrong, and is purely justification for continuing an unpopular war that the west uses to damage Russia and carve Ukraine out for resources.
You can understand their position though surely if you an admit a degree of that.
The ethnic cleansing may not be as “unsubtle” as Israel’s, but it is there, and there is history of it, and you cannot deny in Putins own words his dislike, or rather distaste and denial of the Ukrainian national identity, harkening back to imperialistic days.
There’s not ethnic cleansing in Ukraine, though. The nationalist Banderite movement that dominates Ukraine right now is similar to Israel saying everyone is out to destroy them. I don’t deny Putin’s words, but at the same time I also don’t deny Ukrainian words when they say they want an ethnostate and are oppressing ethnic Russians in Ukraine.
Fair. It just feels like you are leaping to their defence.
Putin has stated numerous times though that he considers Ukraine to be Russian and downplays their national identity. And go back enough in history and you do see a pattern.
There is a degree of that, but often it’s overplayed by pro-Ukrainian people to the degree that they believe Russia is trying to ethnically cleanse Ukraine, which is wrong, and is purely justification for continuing an unpopular war that the west uses to damage Russia and carve Ukraine out for resources.
You can understand their position though surely if you an admit a degree of that.
The ethnic cleansing may not be as “unsubtle” as Israel’s, but it is there, and there is history of it, and you cannot deny in Putins own words his dislike, or rather distaste and denial of the Ukrainian national identity, harkening back to imperialistic days.
There’s not ethnic cleansing in Ukraine, though. The nationalist Banderite movement that dominates Ukraine right now is similar to Israel saying everyone is out to destroy them. I don’t deny Putin’s words, but at the same time I also don’t deny Ukrainian words when they say they want an ethnostate and are oppressing ethnic Russians in Ukraine.