There are no ethnic Russian areas of Ukraine. There are areas that are Russian speaking which is a big difference. My wife, from Alchevsk near Lughansk city is one of those Russian speakers and she, her friends, and family, are patriotic Ukrainians. Of course the Neo-Soviets, like the old Soviets love to move populations around as part of their cultural genocide. It is so nice of a Texan like you to talk down to Ukrainians about their own country. And how is it that a Texan buys into so many Moscow lies? Your cited causes of the war puts your insanity on display.
Liberate Alchevsk! Death to the invaders!
There are areas in Ukraine where the people speak Russian and they vote for the pro-Russian candidates, repeatedly. Example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Ukrainian_presidential_election Do you know why your nationalists are persecuting some Orthodox churches in Ukraine? What do you think?
Only when they are duped by a fraud like Mr. Z in 2019, who BTW promised peace (he just lied and had no history so we could invent who he is), do they support someone like that.
These people do not like the nationalists and there is a reason why your side had to send thugs like Azov (in part trained by us) into these regions, and why the Russians (military and FSB) today actually have to shield some of your hero’s from the public when they get arrested, since the locals want to club them in the streets.
—Do you want video of these “non-ethnic Russians” (sarc) in Eastern Ukraine wanting to club your glorious heroes?
—Do you want video of Ukrainians trying to fight recruiters as they attempt to force draft them? Some of these are amusing.
—How about video of Ukrainian troops setting up inside hospitals, on roof tops with ATGMs, or with artillery next to residential buildings with folks still in them?
The drone! It’s changing everything.
When this is over, and hopefully sooner rather than later, you will have a Ukraine that is a basket case economically, with a society that is on the verge of collapse within one generation (birth rate of 1.16, casualties, cripples and refugees: internal population has gone from 41 to 28 million) and ironically you are the one talking about preserving and saving Ukraine. This is a unnecessary war which will have lasting consequences and all those acting like your cheerleader today will have turned away, addressing the next big issue of the day.
What do you think is the probability of this: A comedian with zero political experience, little personal wealth, a Jew in a nation with a serious antisemitic undertone, rises to power like a phoenix and has the US MSM and big tech backing him 100%?
A true patriot, real nationalism, does not make you subordinate to foreign influence and lead you down a road of self-destruction.
There are almost always two sides to a story.
When you get tunnel vision and hit the mute button the solutions you get are almost always bad.
Human nature is pretty much universal and trying to make one side out as evil, or a madman, etc. is almost always crap.
The Cold War ended, there is no Soviet Union or Warsaw Pact and trying to construct arguments based on hyperbole and cliche, old “feelings” isn’t a real argument.
On the day you wrote this Alchevsk (LPR), didn’t get liberated, but Orlovka did, by the Russians.
When you live in a fantasy and are no longer rooted in what is actually physically happening around you (AKA reality), that can have horrible consequences.
The longer this goes on, the worse it is for Ukraine.