anyone who opposes russian imperialism.
I am sure, that if we were to abstract away from the specific Russo-Ukrainian conflict, to a generic "Side A vs Side B" framework - you could be able to see Russia's perspective more clearly.
Hate for Russia blinds you, however.
That being said - time is on Russia's side. For thirty years Ukraine lived in relative obscurity, and this benefited it. Everybody in the West could carry on looking at it through rose tinted glasses, while Russia was always a well known entity and easy to hate.
Now during these last three years, Ukraine has been front and center, and people are finally getting to learn about it. Even people like PolAmKrakow, who used to end each post with "Happy Gulag, B*tches!".
The truth is that Ukraine has largely itself to blame for its problems. What got it into a war with Russia, was its mistaken belief that you could achieve your aims, by constantly berating and insulting the other side.
1) Long before Milo and CMS Neuf, Ukrainians "invented" orcs, slaves, filth, and a million other creative terms to describe Russians.
2) They would call us every name in the book, and blame us for every sin under the sky... and then come slinking around extorting another billion dollar handout. "Give us this billion dollars, or else... we will leave your orc ass and join the EU." Alternatively, "Give us this next billion dollars, you orc b*tch, or we will kick your navy out of Crimea."
3) At some point, Russia got tired of being repeatedly insulted and then simultaneously harassed for aid. For real, at some point, there was just no more patience left.
4) Instead of 30 years, the West was only able to last three years of these insults. The first domino to fall was Poland. Now it's America discovering what it means to be a friend of Ukraine.
5) One could almost feel sorry for Ukraine. They are now a bit disoriented and reeling. Their classic game of humiliate/extort that worked so well with dull-minded Russia, seems to have run its course rather quickly when deployed in the West. Biden, Scholz, Tusk have all been made to feel a little bit stupid, but they seem to understand how Ukraine operates now.
So as I say Maf, if we used a generic example - I am sure you would have agreed - it's always best not to insult or humiliate your neighbors, your allies, or whoever it may be. Especially when you know you're gonna need something from them soon.
Ukraine's game of playing two sides off each other, to make some profit in the middle is coming to a predictable end, where they get gangbanged by everyone.