Because it’s the right thing to do?

When people are being assassinated in beach towns in Spain, society should do something. The people being assassinated, according to the article, are Russians who decided they don’t support Russia. “Running from the problems of their own country” is a time honored tradition of “The West”, according to every American elementary school curriculum explaining the founding of America.

The west claims to be enlightened lands of the free, so people who are part of the west, should be open to sharing that freedom with those who seek it, and protect them from those who seek to shut out freedom.

National pride? What kind of nation allows another nation to spectacularly violate the most fundamental of their laws, deep in the homeland, with laughing impunity?

Russians running away from problems in their country are assets to the west. One of the things that makes the west great is its respect for individual freedom. At some level Russians know this: just compare the numbers of Russians trying to move to the West, compared to the numbers of westerns moving to Russia. We're better, and their population knows it en mass. So from a selfish point of view, it's in our interest to live up to this image. If a Russian says: I refuse to take part in Russia's aggression towards the West, we definitely should treat them extra well.

Also consider that another thing that makes the West great is its respect for rule of law. People who are in the west should have the right to walk down the street without fear of being assassinated, regardless of who they are or where they come from; this is a western value that I prize very much. If you start allowing "I don't care if a person gets illegally killed in Spain because he's a bad guy anyway", you're eroding the power of the West.

And finally, the problem that the west needs to counter act aren't just individuals of specific nationalities: it's an aggressive state and its institutions that have as stated goal to weaken us.

Let me know if you have more questions. As long as they're in good faith I'm happy to continue discussing.

Because they’re often, not always trying to help the west / you ?

It's disappointing to see a brainless comment like that on HN. You don't need to be versed in geopolitics to understand that Russia is a threat to western Europe and people like this create a counterweight to the insane part of Russian society. You need dissidents and oppositionists to have a chance to build a normal country in Russia.