The Donbass region is largely ethnically Russian, and has been systematically oppressed by Kiev, including erasure of the Russian language, and outright massacres following the secession of Donetsk and Luhansk post-Euromaidan.

Additionally, the USSR never colonized Ukraine, neither did the Russian Federation. The Banderites that took over Ukraine in 2014 are far-right nationalists, and as such are useful for NATO.

[–] OboTheHobo@ttrpg.network -1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

First off, the donbas is not majority russian. While it has the largest group of Russians in the country it is still majority Ukrainian.

Second, the ICJ and international association of genocide scholars investigated Russia's claim of massacre and genocide and found them to be entirely baseless and fabricated to justify invasion.

Third, if this was about liberating the donbas, then Russia wouldn't have gone all the way to Kyiv at the beginning of the invasion. Even still Russia occupies far more than the donbas.

I swear the way some of yall rush to defend Russia. You guys realize it's not socialist anymore, right? That the country is ruled and controlled by capitalists? That capital interests like the oil in ukraine are what drive them?

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 day ago

I didn't say the Donbass was majority Russian, I said it's largely Russian, which is true. This is especially important considering it was added to Ukraine by the Soviet Union, and wasn't considered Ukrainian beforehand.

Secondly, the civil war between Kiev and the Donbass region has been widely recorded and reported on. The advent of the Russo-Ukrainian War put that into the background, so that the west can pretend history started in 2022, but that's false.

Third, the war is not about "liberating the Donbass region." It's about Russia securing the biggest land bridge into their territory, the Donbass region, and ensuring NATO neutrality. Demillitarizing Ukraine is a secondary goal for that second goal. Getting more territory than the Donbass region and destroying as much millitary equipment as possible ensures that Russia's stated goals are met, and improves their bargaining position.

This isn't a war of good vs evil, the world doesn't work in such Marvel terms. Russia has consistent and clear goals, it isn't some evil group of evildoers doing evil.

No, Marxists do not think Russia is still socialist. At the same time, it's abundantly clear that this isn't about oil, it's about defending against NATO encirclement. If it was about oil, then it's clear that losing customers by going to war would backfire, and that was clear before the war. There's no evidence that this is a war for extraction, despite what the pro-NATO crowd protests.