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The Maidan protests happened because the people of Ukraine wanted to part of a rich, democratic and fair Europe and not the corrupt, colonialist dictatorship next door. That's not Nazism, that's common sense, unless you use the absurd definition of Nazism used by the Putin regime (to wit, Ukrainians who don't want to be Russians are Nazis).
What are you talking about? Crimea was already part of Ukraine and had been for decades. How could Russian annexation prevent it being 'taken over' by the country it is already part of?
Which is exactly the kind of revanchist militarism that I described initially when talking about Russia's war aims. Nothing to do with 'Ukraine not being a US proxy'.
Nope. Putin was very clear about what the purpose of the invasion was in his accidentally leaked victory speech. It was explicitly about the elimination of Ukraine as a distinct nation with a distinct identity.
In Putin's view, Ukrainians aren't real. They are actually 'little Russians' who have been mislead.
Crimea was made part of the Ukrainian SSR by the Russian regime in Moscow in 1954, the Russian-speaking East and South have been part of Ukraine since 1922, a century ago. The idea that Putin's quasi-genocidal war is somehow reasonable punishment for the decisions of past Russian regimes, or because Ukraine doesn't want to be the subject of its murderous neighbour, is morally abhorent.
As an aside, I have personally met some of these 'Russians' you talk about (i.e. Russian-speaking Ukrainians). I can assure you, they are not grateful that Putin has 'liberated them from Ukronazis' or whatever other propoganda seems to have taken hold in your mind. They despise the Russian regime because of the terror it has inflicted on their country and their families.
Me? Your the one ignoring Vladimir Putin's explicit statements about what he wants and why he wants it, and instead sanewashing what he himself admits is a revanchist war of conquest into a defensive action they forced into because naughty Ukraine wouldn't do what it is told.
Ukraine is a sovereign country and the Ukrainians are a people with preferences as legitimate as any other, if they want to cooperate with the US or Europe (and after seeing what Russia would end up doing, can you blame them?) they should be able to do that without the dictator in the East being allowed to kill them in their sleep.
The US didn't do the Maidan, the Ukrainians did it. Half a million in the capital alone. They did it because they recognised what being a Russian subject like Belarus would entail, and their predictions have been vindicated.
You're parroting insanely stupid propaganda. So far this is the least 'genocidal' war waged in Europe since.. probably the Prusso-French war. Civilian deaths are minimal.
And GWB decided he is going to declare 'war on terror' and yet curiously only went after Al-Qaeda. Please stop trying to say as if public statements by politicians are actually meaningful indications and not tailored for public consumption.
Also, if you get the homeless bum next door drunk, give him a rusty knife and tell him you'll give him $500 if he kills that pitbull, he then acts legitimately, out of his own initiative and him getting viciously mauled is totally not your fault.
Would you consider a Maidan in Washington that ended up abolishing the electoral college and handing blue cities total control of the country legitimate? No you wouldn't. So please stop with the double standards.
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