You need to study this region more, mate. Whatever the western media is claiming is not the case.
Genocide... Russian tanks crossed into Ukraine via border checkpoints without firing a single shot. The only fighting in the annexed regions was against Kiev's forces, in some since 2014.
I have that map and many more. I'm fully aware of the ethnic breakdown. And I think some Russians in the Donbass were at civil war with Kiev and wanted Russia's assitance. But also Russia was very unhappy with the 2014 coup and was eager to get involved with their little green men. I'm aware of the 2014 CIA involvement and I have a lot of evidence of it (including a 200 page pdf). But this is not conclusive proof that all of Eastern Ukraine wants to be Russia. Consider this: do Mexicans living in Los Angeles want that region to be controlled by Mexico? No. Just because Russians were living in Ukraine doesn't mean those Russians want to live under Russian administration. And without going and asking everybody, there is no way to know for sure. I know Russia took a vote, but I don't have a lot of confidence in that vote. In summary, nobody's story is sufficiently proven to a strong enough degree that I'm willing to take that side... therefore I remain in the middle, undecided, open minded.
Trust me when I say that I don't trust the Western media. But that doesn't mean I automatically believe the opposite either.
I mentioned genocide as one of the horrible options Russia could take in the future to deal with the problem I brought up... it was not an accusation of what they have been doing.
Fair points. I'd argue Kiev would sooner resort to genocide as they have been desperately shelling eastern regions since the 2014 coup, literally killing other ukrainians. This serves as an example to all the other eastern (mostly russian-speaking) regions to be cautious in proclaiming they are against Kiev. Naturally Putin's tanks skewed this risk. The votes are just for show, but if there was genuine resistance in the annexed regions, the west would be all over it and use it in the media too.
There's no good guys in this conflict, only global powers and their local puppets, everybody else is simply a victim of the forced redistribution of land, property and capital destruction. War is hell, but it is also a racket and Putin wasted no time to push through the same dystopian CBDC agenda that is kreeping in west.
