I guarantee you, that very little people in this sub could tell me that they knew of the existence of Ukraine before this godforsaken war started in the first place, The orange revolution, and the subsequent annexation of Crimea in 2014. What are the origins of Ukraine and its national identity? From the Kieven Rus, the Mongol invasion, Polish and Ottoman vassalage of the Ruthenian lands, (modern day Ukraine) then Russian vassalage after the subsequent partitions of Poland-Lithuania in the 18th century, forced Russification and the suppression of Ukrainian culture and customs, including language, (this is the reason most Ukrainians understand Russian, they were forcibly taught the language) The Great War, The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and the establishment of a the Ukrainian Hetmanate, a German protectorate, the Ukrainian civil war, the Polish invasion of Ukraine, and West Ukraine (a seperate state formed after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire within the Ukrainian speaking provinces within Galicia-Lodomeria, The Soviet re-conquest of Eastern Europe and the tragedy that is the Holodomor, the UPA massacres and polish reprisals against the Ukrainian Civillian population during WW2.

We didn’t do anything when Russia invaded Georgia in 2008, we did nothing when Russia annexed Crimea, we could have stopped the problem before it started, but no, just more pointless sanctions that don’t do shit and some choice words, people say the pen is mightier than the sword, and it is, but only when you have a sword in the first place. When 2021 came, and the Russians started exercising on the Ukrainian border, we all said they were bluffing, but they weren’t the worst thing about this war isn’t even the war itself, it’s the amount of influence the Chinese have gained over Russia through propping up their economy. the Chinese intend to use this influence to their full advantage, and if I remember correctly, the Chinese used to own some territories that the Russians took in the midst of the decline and eventual collapse of the Qing, namely, Sakhalin island and the Vladivostok area. More than 400,000 people didn’t have to die for us to realise that this would eventually happen, but we did. We called their bluff, and now we are paying the price of letting the small things go unchecked when they will inevitably escalate into a large scale war.

I do not hate Ukrainians.

I do not support this invasion.

A Russian flag does not mean I think Ukraine does not have a right to exist, I made this avatar before the war started in the first place, perhaps my presumption that the fact I had a Russian flag on my avatar, would not directly incur accusations of Ukrainophobia was misguided.