Obvious bullshit. They declared they had no intention to occupy territory three years after Zelensky's elections, so don't go claiming that it's Zelensky's election that changed the rule. The only rule is that Russia always lies, and that rule hasn't changed.
They wasted no time painting the Russian colors everywhere, as early as in February. So the intent always was to invade, occupy, and annex.
And there was no avoiding war. Putin wanted that war and would not be budged.
My point being the Russians had no intention of invading Ukraine until Zelensky pushed their buttons. Even before the war began, all of the Russian efforts were aimed at not fighting. Even after the war began, they expected they wouldn't fight. In fact, had their assessments been accurate and had they predicted the current outcome, there wouldn't have been a war in the first place. So they screwed up too. But the first one to screw up was Zelensky.
So slow? They started by going as fast as they could, which is why they had supply line issues.
Slow as in not using the appropriate amount of power right off the bat, like the US against Iraq. 'Cause they didn't expect to fight. Supply line issues, they thought their army was only gonna be for parades, not war.
Let's always maintain the fact that the Russians never expected to fight a war.
No, they absolutely
are considering every Ukrainian as Nazi. Read this:
Еще в апреле прошлого года мы писали о неизбежности денацификации Украины. Нацистская, бандеровская Украина, враг России и инструмент Запада по уничтожению... РИА Новости, 05.04.2022
ria.ru
It's from RIA Novosti, so you know it's content that is officially endorsed by the Kremlin. A few translated excerpts:
See? Their definition of "Nazi" is "Ukrainian". Every Ukrainian is a Nazi. And the only cure is complete destruction of Ukraine, massive brainwashing into being obedient little slaves, and complete dependence on Russia for every aspect of society with no space left for any sort of local autonomy. Independence, autonomy, and even neutrality are considered to be Nazism. The only way not to be a Nazi in Russia's eyes is to be a Russian.
This article conflates the age-old Soviet-style indoctrination with denazification. Their 'original' definition was just purging the fighters. Killing UAF and other soldiers was considered demilitarisation. We are arguing semantics, but I agree that commie indoctrination will be the main societal goal post war. They seem to be calling it denazification, but it's more accurately de-democratisation.
Zelensky is only a puppet of the Ukrainian people. He's not a puppet of the West, and anyone who claims so is full of shit.
Then he would have overturned the language law, as promised. Then he wouldn't have complained about how the EU and US didn't come to rescue Ukraine after the invasion.
The problem is you are seeing this situation as if there's any merit at all in the Russian position. It's Russian imperialism vs. Ukrainian sovereignty.
US imperialism vs Iraqi sovereignty
French imperialism vs Libyan sovereignty
Dress it up how you like, I don't see a difference. To me it's all senseless murder for political benefits. You guys left your enemies for the dead. If you do not follow destruction with nation-building, then it's just genocide, pure and simple.
Hence the accusation of hypocrisy. The West simply isn't capable of leading by example, it only looks out for itself. It was because of Chinese actions via BRI that the Third World is now getting modern infrastructure. And the US and Europe want to contribute now after all these decades, have yet to do so, all because of the political benefits of doing it. Garden and jungle and whatnot, without talking about the centuries of exploitation needed to build that garden in the first place.
But I understand that India likes colonial imperialism, as long as it happens to other people.
In this context, it's different. The land Russia plans to occupy is Russian. Politically, we are somewhat in the same situation post partition, but we are less emotional about it.
Look, it's simple. Had it not been for the language law, I would have sympathised more with the Ukrainians. This is something you haven't understood. And you won't understand until someone else comes to France, sidelines the French language and imposes their language on you. This is a conversation we are having in India right now. The central govt wants to impose Hindi everywhere in the country. They are doing it for both selfish reasons, like spreading their votebank around, and altruistic reasons, like national unity, but it's not gonna work if it's done forcefully. And it's much worse for the Russian-speakers because they are being legally ousted from the system forcefully. So, if you as an individual, are willing to give up on the French language, to the point where you will not teach your children French, for their benefit, for the 'bigger picture', like EU unity around a majority language, maybe Spanish, only then can you argue that the Russians are not justified.
What people forget to realise is the occupied territories are largely peaceful, because the occupied residents don't mind Russian presence. Normally, after so much time has passed, the Russians should have been dealing with a major insurgency by now. It's not happened, it's unlikely to happen, because the residents have picked their side already. From the Russian perspective, they are liberating their own people. And the people being liberated pretty much agree with that.
