Hello!
First up, I just want to say that you're right. Russia has committed crimes. So, let's at least understand why that happened, so we don't go around like hypocrites pointing out maga for believing Russian propaganda, while you and I believe western propaganda.
In 1991, after the illegal and undemocratic dissolution of the USSR through neo-liberal shock therapy against the overwhelming majority of the population, fifteen states, which had not previously existed as fully independent countries in the modern, internationally recognized sense, were born. Of which, Ukraine.
Unsurprisingly, when you go from a planned economy to a market economy and the state start rapidly selling assets, the result is inflation, corruption, and instability.
Additionally, Ukraine's geopolitical location keeps it interesting for western imperial interests. Being the second largest country in Europe, bordering both NATO, Russia, and the further Eastern Block, and a transit country for 2/3 of Europe's natural gas from Russia, it of course plays a big role in the regions' stability. Just interfering in the transit of Russian natural gas is enough to make Russia, a great enemy of NATO, suffer catastrophic economic hardships.
Given all those reasons and access to the black sea, and that's how the west convinced Ukraine to trade in its nuclear arsenal for "security assurances" in 1994.
Trying to balance a relationship with both Russia and the West all the while the country faces massive inflation killing living standards and eroding public trust in the government, leading to constant leadership changes, but its not enough to explain the initial western intervention in Ukraine.
Since the beginning, NATO has been looking to get its hands dirty in Ukraine, making non-meaningful peace deals to "strengthen relationships". A 2008 poll shows that 55% of Ukrainians straight-up opposed joining NATO and only 20% were in favor.
In a Russia-Ukraine-USA agreement, Ukraine was compensated with millions by the USA and low-enriched uranium fuel rods by Russia in exchange for it completely dismantling its nuclear powers. US Aid was given to Ukraine from the beginning. However, while this was crucial in the beginning, it did not come without a price. The US has claimed as a matter of foreign policy that "For a stable and secure Ukraine is essential for a stable and secure Europe" through the establishment of the "Vice Presidency of the European and Euro-Atlantic Integration in Ukraine", which has made Ukraine's pro-western stance clear since. This was even reinforced by constitutional amendments in 2019, embedding NATO and EU membership as "strategic goals to actively pursue''.
In 2004, "The Orange Revolution" marked by widespread protests and reforms. As accusations of election fraud was made (hmm sounds familiar) and that led to new elections. That is true, but from the beginning, the organization of the protest is suspiciously too organized as if they were receiving some kind of help. Until this moment, the US promoted over 65 million dollars to "promote democracy in Ukraine" mainly through organizations like freedom house and national endownment, which had, big surprise, agitated many of the youth by organizing rock concerts and setting up posters all over. In the next so-called revolution, Ukrainians protested against the association agreement to reject closer ties with the EU to balance ties with Russia. The narrative was told that riot police and the such were deployed and even shot protesters. What is left out of this conversation is the involvement of far-right groups Свобода. Although they were a minority, they had a large backing, resources, and organization. They were widely occupying government building especially in western Ukraine. The EU and the US staged participation in the protests, actively supported the far-right reactionaries, and a later leaked phone-call reveals US efforts to influence the formation of a post Euoropia government. Poland also played a big role through funding and pressuring the EU to integrate Ukraine into so-called "European norms". Image the inverse. Imagine Russia actively funding and supporting anti-government uprisings in lets say Mexico to match its interests in weakening the USA. Imagine a leaked phone call with Putin practically choosing the next leaders of Mexico some even being Russian themselves. Just for a second, think about all this and forget the US exceptionalism. Before moving on, its important to mention that Russia wasnt just standing by all this time. Russia conducted covert and overt operations in the presidency and later in Crimea and Romas. Don't mistake me for being a supporter of Russia. I hate it with all my heart as much as you do, but situations like these need nuance.
Since the 1990s Russia has seen western intervention in Ukraine as a direct threat and was its reasoning for invading Crimea. This constant push and pull between the west and Russia caused the Ukrainians to suffer under a collapsing country being influenced by foreign entities. Even with all that, in 2014, Ukraine took a massive 17 billion dollar lone from the IMF and of course, the IMF implemented neo-liberal policies further ruining life and interest continues to rise so high to the point of insanity. This also further strengthened the already present and powerful Ukrainian oligarchs by major tax cuts yet the payroll tax remained at 50% placing even more burden onto the working class.
With all this in mind, it should be very clear that the policy towards Ukraine and Russia throughout the previous decades has produced outcomes opposite to the stated goals. The US says it views the strategic positioning of Ukraine as a buffer state. It's not like this is a surprise. Even back in 2008, CIA director William when he was serving as the US ambassador to Russia stated "Ukranian entry to NATO is the brightest of all redlines for the Russian elite (not just Putin)... [it is] a direct challenge to Russian interests...". Another show of this is the Russian progress made, while the US was debating sending more money to Ukraine. Ukraine is heavily dependent on western weapons and supplies and can not survive on its own. Yet, peace deals are ignored for the continuation of Western imperial interests at the expense of Ukraine, which needs peace negotiations not continued war and western intervention. Defense secretary Lloyd Austin explicitly stated "The US goal in Ukrain was to see Russia weakened due to the war", which is not the case at all and the lack of peace deals and continued western intervention not only is making Ukrainian lives more shit than they already were before the war, but also resulting in more and more countries being involved, potentially leading to WW3 just for some petty western interests.
I truly hope the best for Ukrainians and Russians impacted by this war and hope all of this ends.
Hello! First up, I just want to say that you're right. Russia has committed crimes. So, let's at least understand why that happened, so we don't go around like hypocrites pointing out maga for believing Russian propaganda, while you and I believe western propaganda.
In 1991, after the illegal and undemocratic dissolution of the USSR through neo-liberal shock therapy against the overwhelming majority of the population, fifteen states, which had not previously existed as fully independent countries in the modern, internationally recognized sense, were born. Of which, Ukraine.
Unsurprisingly, when you go from a planned economy to a market economy and the state start rapidly selling assets, the result is inflation, corruption, and instability.
Additionally, Ukraine's geopolitical location keeps it interesting for western imperial interests. Being the second largest country in Europe, bordering both NATO, Russia, and the further Eastern Block, and a transit country for 2/3 of Europe's natural gas from Russia, it of course plays a big role in the regions' stability. Just interfering in the transit of Russian natural gas is enough to make Russia, a great enemy of NATO, suffer catastrophic economic hardships.
Given all those reasons and access to the black sea, and that's how the west convinced Ukraine to trade in its nuclear arsenal for "security assurances" in 1994.
Trying to balance a relationship with both Russia and the West all the while the country faces massive inflation killing living standards and eroding public trust in the government, leading to constant leadership changes, but its not enough to explain the initial western intervention in Ukraine.
Since the beginning, NATO has been looking to get its hands dirty in Ukraine, making non-meaningful peace deals to "strengthen relationships". A 2008 poll shows that 55% of Ukrainians straight-up opposed joining NATO and only 20% were in favor.
In a Russia-Ukraine-USA agreement, Ukraine was compensated with millions by the USA and low-enriched uranium fuel rods by Russia in exchange for it completely dismantling its nuclear powers. US Aid was given to Ukraine from the beginning. However, while this was crucial in the beginning, it did not come without a price. The US has claimed as a matter of foreign policy that "For a stable and secure Ukraine is essential for a stable and secure Europe" through the establishment of the "Vice Presidency of the European and Euro-Atlantic Integration in Ukraine", which has made Ukraine's pro-western stance clear since. This was even reinforced by constitutional amendments in 2019, embedding NATO and EU membership as "strategic goals to actively pursue''.
In 2004, "The Orange Revolution" marked by widespread protests and reforms. As accusations of election fraud was made (hmm sounds familiar) and that led to new elections. That is true, but from the beginning, the organization of the protest is suspiciously too organized as if they were receiving some kind of help. Until this moment, the US promoted over 65 million dollars to "promote democracy in Ukraine" mainly through organizations like freedom house and national endownment, which had, big surprise, agitated many of the youth by organizing rock concerts and setting up posters all over. In the next so-called revolution, Ukrainians protested against the association agreement to reject closer ties with the EU to balance ties with Russia. The narrative was told that riot police and the such were deployed and even shot protesters. What is left out of this conversation is the involvement of far-right groups Свобода. Although they were a minority, they had a large backing, resources, and organization. They were widely occupying government building especially in western Ukraine. The EU and the US staged participation in the protests, actively supported the far-right reactionaries, and a later leaked phone-call reveals US efforts to influence the formation of a post Euoropia government. Poland also played a big role through funding and pressuring the EU to integrate Ukraine into so-called "European norms". Image the inverse. Imagine Russia actively funding and supporting anti-government uprisings in lets say Mexico to match its interests in weakening the USA. Imagine a leaked phone call with Putin practically choosing the next leaders of Mexico some even being Russian themselves. Just for a second, think about all this and forget the US exceptionalism. Before moving on, its important to mention that Russia wasnt just standing by all this time. Russia conducted covert and overt operations in the presidency and later in Crimea and Romas. Don't mistake me for being a supporter of Russia. I hate it with all my heart as much as you do, but situations like these need nuance.
Since the 1990s Russia has seen western intervention in Ukraine as a direct threat and was its reasoning for invading Crimea. This constant push and pull between the west and Russia caused the Ukrainians to suffer under a collapsing country being influenced by foreign entities. Even with all that, in 2014, Ukraine took a massive 17 billion dollar lone from the IMF and of course, the IMF implemented neo-liberal policies further ruining life and interest continues to rise so high to the point of insanity. This also further strengthened the already present and powerful Ukrainian oligarchs by major tax cuts yet the payroll tax remained at 50% placing even more burden onto the working class.
With all this in mind, it should be very clear that the policy towards Ukraine and Russia throughout the previous decades has produced outcomes opposite to the stated goals. The US says it views the strategic positioning of Ukraine as a buffer state. It's not like this is a surprise. Even back in 2008, CIA director William when he was serving as the US ambassador to Russia stated "Ukranian entry to NATO is the brightest of all redlines for the Russian elite (not just Putin)... [it is] a direct challenge to Russian interests...". Another show of this is the Russian progress made, while the US was debating sending more money to Ukraine. Ukraine is heavily dependent on western weapons and supplies and can not survive on its own. Yet, peace deals are ignored for the continuation of Western imperial interests at the expense of Ukraine, which needs peace negotiations not continued war and western intervention. Defense secretary Lloyd Austin explicitly stated "The US goal in Ukrain was to see Russia weakened due to the war", which is not the case at all and the lack of peace deals and continued western intervention not only is making Ukrainian lives more shit than they already were before the war, but also resulting in more and more countries being involved, potentially leading to WW3 just for some petty western interests.
I truly hope the best for Ukrainians and Russians impacted by this war and hope all of this ends.