It's been fun, but I won't have time to contribute much to this thread anymore. Therefore, I'll summarize my thoughts before I become more passive.
I personally find myself leaning strongly towards Ukraine in this conflict, but not for reasons you might expect. Many people on this thread seem to be so obsessed with social media and some enmity against certain odious groups and politicians that they can't see why anyone would be able to find themselves on the same side as the Western global elite.
I for one first came to this thread on the 19th. This is when I personally felt it was inevitable that a major war was going to start. This both fascinated and terrified me. Not because I felt any specific sympathy for Ukraine or its corrupt government, but because I could see parallels to history for my own country.
Ukraine started out as an autonomous part of a greater empire, the Soviet Union, and slowly developed its own fledgeling national identity. This identity is still young and not fully developed, but it still exists as something separate from Russia. Now it has had 30 years to create its own independent identity, customs and nationhood that make it out to be something unique.
My country, Finland, has had a very similar history. First, we were Swedes, then an independent Grand Duchy of Russia that allowed for the creation of a new national identity, and finally a country independent of Russia. We too had 30 years to develop a national identity as an independent nation before our old overlord came demanding us to return to the fold. Ukraine now faces a situation similar to what Finland faced in the Winter War.
Despite being a full-blooded Chukhna, I have always had a deep respect and adoration for Russia. I have even described myself as a Russophile. Since I was a child, I've had the chance to travel in Russia and always felt a deep spiritual and emotional connection to it. Something that is probably not too far from the love affair that people like Sir Enoch Powell and Yuri Bezmenov had with India. I learned (but never mastered) the language, made many great friends and even briefly considered converting to Orthodoxy, the religion of my East-Karelian ancestors. I felt that despite its authoritarianism, Russia was a strong and patriotic nation that would be able to hold its own in the world. With time, I thought, Russia could open up, but keep its strong national identity. Something that very few countries in this world are able to achieve. Something that could serve as an example to the entire world, including the West.
Now, I feel that that dream has been destroyed. Russia has made itself an international pariah. Any support for Russians or Russian identity will be faced with utter hostility from the West. All this while Russia destroys itself economically turning itself, seemingly intentionally, into a failed state. I do not see the current Russian government lasting for more than a few years. After that, there will be a new order in Russia that could turn it into something similar to the Western globalized states that lack any sense of unity of national spirit. The globalists will win in Russia and they will not need to fire a single shot.
I support Ukraine because I feel that every nation that is willing to fight for its independence has earned the right to exist.
I support Ukraine because the only way I see Russia retaining even a shred of itself is if has to reconsider its options and retreat.
I support Ukraine because I love Russia, and I hate seeing what it has become.
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