Quote:
Originally Posted by Ramrod
You appear to be assuming that my dislike of the situation in Ukraine before the invasion (2nd most corrupt country in Europe/lots of actual Nazis/oppressing ethnic Russians/ allowing themselves to be used to irritate Russia) means that I am a fan of Putin. I'm not.
---------- Post added at 18:04 ---------- Previous post was at 17:54 ----------
Democratic?! You are aware that back in 2021 opposition party members were placed under house arrest? Or that TV stations were shut down?
OK, they were pro Russian politicians and TV channels but that was almost a year before things kicked off.
Ukraine was and is a byword for state and private sector corruption (second only to Russia) and we are meant to cheer for Zelensky and hate Putin? It's like being asked whether you prefer diarrhoea or constipation.
edit: For the record- I don't like Putin but I've been paying enough attention to the situation and history of what's been going in in Ukraine leading up to the invasion to understand that it's likely not a clear cut as we are being led to believe by the media. Both sides are corrupt and it's the people that suffer  |
But you don’t appear to have read enough to know that from Ukraine’s point of view it didn’t ‘kick off’ this year. They have been at war since 2014 and in a struggle with Russia since some time before that. The Orange Revolution in 2004-5 and the Euromaidan revolution of 2014 were both precipitated by Russian meddling in Ukrainian politics to try to secure Moscow-friendly governments in Kyiv. The Euromaidan event is most likely what made Putin realise that more direct attempts to destabilise the country would be required if his objectives were to be realised, leading to his sponsoring of separatist militias in the Donbas and, while everyone’s attention was in the east, the annexation of Crimea.
You’re right, it isn’t as clear cut as the media portrays it, it never is. The media likes a simple narrative that can be summarised in two sentences or less. But neither is it as clear cut as the equivocation you’re offering here.
And in any case, nothing - absolutely nothing - in Ukraine’s modern history negates its government’s right to assert control within its internationally recognised borders, even without the evidence of atrocities committed by Russians within those areas it has occupied.