Hacker News Reader

Comment by invalidname | Hacker News Reader

I have many Ukrainian friends. They aren't Russians and don't think of themselves as Russians. Why should they priorities that language when they want to be a part of the west more than they want to be a part of Russia?

They elected a president who's policy is just that.

The rebellion was against a puppet installed by Russia. You might not accept those facts and claim the west is lying here. That's an option and it won't be the first/last time that happened. In terms of track record for lying, I'm going to take the west as more reliable than the east. Pretty much all my Russian and Ukrainian friends would agree to that assertion.

View on HN

> The rebellion was against a puppet installed by Russia

By the means of democratic general elections?

They won't have to be a 'part' of Russia provided that they has observed some basic precautions, which I have listed and whose violations you are vehemently defending.

Russia guaranteed their independence. An independent country can teach its own language and stop teaching a foreign language. An independent country can seek other alliances. They didn't violate anything and Russia had no right to invade. There's a reason everyone sanctioned Russia and knowingly shot themselves in the foot while doing so.

About elections. It's funny that you're so passionate about elections when results suite your opinions. Yanukovych was elected by a hair unlike the current president. So you show lack of respect to democracy.

"An independent country can teach its own language and stop teaching a foreign language."

Tell that to Belgium, Ireland, Italy or Canada.

Ukraine is a deeply divided country and by violating ECRML they went not the Western but sub-Sakharan African way.

They shouldn't have done that. They would have their whole country, including Crimea, no war and 2x economy, if only they did not listen to western NGOs sitting on their ears like you do right now. About all of the wonderful independent rights of suppressing their own population for their language or electoral preference.

> Yanukovych was elected by a hair

Yep, so? As are most of presidents of the USA. Or Brexit.

All those countries elect leaders who decide to keep the languages they teach. A foreign country doesn't threaten them with invasion because of school curriculum. That's an INSANE argument!

Sure it's a divided country. No question. You don't bomb countries for being divided. Had Putin stayed in the Dunbas area that would have been a moderate excuse. He chose to attack the entire country and assassinate the elected president.

You sound like the people who tell a beaten wife that she shouldn't have talked back... Putin is a criminal and you're making excuses for him. He tried to take Ukraine in the gentle way by installing a puppet. When that didn't work he's trying force. Ukraine was distancing itself from Russia because of Putins policies.

You're picking small things to justify terrible HUGE things. If someone says something bad to you on the street shooting their head off would be justifiable?

That's the level of excuses I'm reading here.

> You sound like the people who tell a beaten wife that she shouldn't have talked back...

Crimea is the beaten wife. Ukraine is the psycho husband. Russia thinks it has to enforce the restraining order.

You are the person who thinks criminal law has no place to be in a family, including a dysfunctional one.

> assassinate the elected president

Wat

Putin organized troops that were supposed to storm the capital on the first days of the war to kill Zelensky. If your insane narrative was the case then why did Putin lie about invading?

Why are Ukrainians fighting against Russia and so few are fighting with it?

There are Ukrainians who want Russian rule. That is obvious. But they are a tiny minority and elections proved it. Most of those who are interested in a Ukraine that is closer to Russia are fighting against it right now.

> they are a tiny minority and elections proved it.

This can only be true if you discount people from territories Ukraine does not control but still claims.

I feel like ethnic cleansing of minority populations through systemic erasure of their heritage and identity is a fine pretext for war.

As a member of a minority that went through ethnic cleansing this is remarkably offensive and ignorant.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com