The Euromaidan had all sorts of messy elements, but I wrote the following in another thread:
As someone who is acquainted with both Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox members, including expats in US:
However “moral” a right Russia had in annexing Crimea - the spirit in which it was done was so vicious and dark: so that that move plus incursion into Donbass has turned a whole generation of Ukrainians against Russia. Including Ukrainians who were naturally inclined to Russia’s orbit over Europe’s.
Poroshenko is awful, but to many Ukrainians - the thought of eternal Soviet-time warp under Russia would be worse. So: its rough, but they’re in it for the long haul in terms of commitment to independence.
These events were put in motion by Hillary Clinton and friends.
There is no possible spirit that Russia could act in, in response to that, that is more “vicious and dark” in spirit than the motives of the Clinton mafia.
The perpetual drive of Clinton/McCainites and the like to push NATO to Russia’s borders, and the role of events in Ukraine to that end, is the bottom line over which reasonable individuals ought to be most concerned.
That is the driving force, the prime mover - everything else is response and reaction. Only a person who is brainwashed into pretending the most important relevant events are of little to no significance can ignore this.
Great synopsis, Rose, just like most of your comments which I find to be spot on.
I dated a Ukrainian girl a while back, and though she was from L’viv in the west, she had recently come to hate Putin above all others.