If Russia truly believed in democracy and self-determination the way they claim to in Ukraine, Chechnya would be independent.
In any case, Russia's invasion in February 2022 was clearly an effort to conquer and annex by force a neighboring country. There is no legal or moral justification for the misery the government has brought to tens of millions of Ukrainians and Russians.
Your views here do clear up the myth that we should blame just Putin and not the Russian people as a while for the invasion, the atrocities, etc. That's apparently just who you are.
I could have tried to accept your point if only you was as critical to Nuland and Obama who organaized the whole mess.
And no, killing people in Donbas by Kiev was a wrong move, and the main goal was to trigger the public opinion in Russia.
Regarding February, there is not enough historical perspective to judge, but I think a planned Ukrainian offensive on Donbas and Ze’s crazy nuclear talk in Munich was the case.
Regarding “land grab”, what should be the alternative once Kiev refused to reintegrate the territories according to Minsk?
Tell me again, what Milosevic did in Yugoslavia and Ukraine didn’t in Donbas. Then say what Putin did that Clinton didn’t.
Regarding the essence of the issue, everybody and their dogs know that they hate Kiev along the sea coast and east of Dniepr. More so now once Russian speakers are considered collaborators by the minority Galicians. The rest of the country, not counting Galicia, doesn’t care in which country they are going to live, but Russia is preferable based on economic opportunities.
“Your views here do clear up the myth that we should blame just Putin and not the Russian people as a while for the invasion, the atrocities, etc. That’s apparently just who you are.”
And what about the ordinary Russians who risked their freedom, if not their very lives speaking out against Putin’s invasion?