For our pro-Putin friends who claim that the Donbas should be Russian:
“This is the map of the Ukrainian-speaking area in 1897 according to the population census conducted by the russian empire. As you can see, it goes beyond the border of modern Ukraine.
1/n
2/ Especially interesting is the region to the right across Azov sea. It is called Kuban, and it was populated mostly by Ukrainians. Since then, those areas have been russified and people living there now almost forgot their roots and identify themselves as russians.
3/ In 1933, whole Ukrainian villages in Donbas region were killed by starvation, and the russian-speaking population was moved to replace them. That’s why most in Donbas speak russian. Russia russified Donbas, just as they are trying to russify the newly occupied territories.
4/ This is precisely why Ukraine needs to return its territories, because otherwise russia will simply eliminate everything Ukrainian on those territories, including Ukrainian people, as they have done in the past.”
https://twitter.com/rshereme/status/1749066672458141761?t=NE-ZC88dQ7lhQIWaxsTy7w&s=19
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GEXu3iJWwAA4teF?format=jpg&name=medium
You can also note that on that map, there is no country named ‘Russia”.
Why, thank you kindly!