Thread by @andreyp_ap

I'm seeing a lot of twitter dialectic nonsense about condemning *both* US/NATO's antagonism & Russia's response & while initially refraining from the futility of commenting on this, I feel it needs to be said that this is a completely unserious approach (to put it politely). 🧵

Let’s put aside the fact that Russia tried exceedingly patient diplomacy for 8 years & since the 90s before that.

Let’s put aside that Zelensky literally threatened to void the Budapest memorandum & rearm Ukraine (a nation with several powerful, explicitly fascist centres of political and military power) with nukes.

I’m not going to list every instance of the Ukrainian govt labelling Russians as sub-humans who deserve second-class status if not death.

No one is pretending that Putin or his govt on an ‘individual’ level represent anything but capitalist interests. It is beyond inane at this point to point out that Putin is not in fact a communist.

But if Bolivia can support Russia then so can I. If Cuba can, if Venezuela, Syria and Iran can…and so on. Does the significance of Russia’s current role as a sovereign, anti-NATO, anti-US imperialism great power really need to be spelled out?

Will we now conveniently forget Russia's contributions, including in the blood of its soldiers, in key fights against US/NATO around the world?

Or have the aforementioned countries (& others) got it all wrong?

It’s in fact the twitterite coalition who gets to condemn both sides. Because of what? Some misbegotten sense of ideological purity? Sorry, it isn't that easy.

Lastly & for me *most importantly*. What does it mean when neat euphemisms like ‘antagonism’ are used for the US/NATO provocations that caused this war? Because for the people of Donbass it has meant being bombed, terrorised & tortured for 8 years. Countless scars. THOUSANDS dead

& For the resistance in Odessa it meant being burned alive. I will look to their opinions on what Russian intervention means first. Anything else after that. War is always bad & should be avoided. Agreed. But the reasons for war are not so simple. Not so easily dismissed.

The CHILDREN of Donbass were condemned to bomb shelters for 8 years by the leadership of Ukraine

Do you think the people of Donbass don't know war is bad?

Spare them your lessons on 'anti-imperialist' pacifism

https://twitter.com/NinaByzantina/status/1497097389521342464?s=20&t=KrGiJtRliCknnCet4Mu2qA