@Petrosius So Russia meddling in Ukraine pre 2014 is bad but Obama/Nuland meddling in 2014 is good?
Not at all. I am just highlighting the hypocrisy of the Russian apologists in using U.S. involvement in internal Ukrainian politics as a justification for the Russian invasion. The Russians were just as active as the U.S. Indeed, the U.S. support for the Maidan uprising was in response to Russian meddling with Yushchenko who reversed himself, rejected the EU-Ukrainian agreement approved by the parliament, and sought an economic union with Russia. In their recounting of events, the Russian apologists always skip over this. His government would most likely have fallen without any U.S. support.
Whatever U.S. involvement in the Maidan uprising there was, it was only to amplify an already popular movement against Yushchenko. The idea that a handful of CIA agents could single-handedly overturn the government and install their chosen leader is ridiculous. The Russian apologists also conveniently pass over the fact that Yushchenko was removed by the democratically elected parliament, and not by an armed junta; as they also ignore the fact that there were two popular elections for president afterwards. Zelensky was freely elected, not installed by the CIA. Russia invaded in both 2014 and in 2022 because they do not acknowledge Ukrainian independence. All other rationalizations are just a smokescreen. They saw their chance with a weak Biden and took it.