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Comment by koonsolo | Hacker News Reader

I see it differently. They won't say Ukraine because Russians see themselves as superior to Ukrainians. So anything that might imply Ukrainians might have or do something better, is out of the question. It cannot compute in their brain, because Ukrainians are "Little Russians" at best.

And that's why there is a problem with the mentality of the Russian population. Literally NONE is able to say Crimea belongs to Ukraine, NONE. And that while internationally, it is part of Ukraine.

So no, my question is not misleading. When at least some Russians would say that Crimea actually belongs to Ukraine, I might have some hope. But right now, sorry, no.

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Of course many many Russians think that "Ukrainians are "Little Russians" at best." But they are easily revealed for what they are when you ask them litteraly what they think about Ukrainians and you don't have to bring up the crimean question.

I posit that the crimean question will also unnecessarily put in the same cohort all those people who do recognize the distinct culture of Ukraine and their right of self determination but also consider the past and present situation of crimea to be more nuanced.

EDIT: some Russians may recognize that Ukrainians have right to self determination but they may also recognize that today Crimea is populated by a vast majority of Russians and thus there giving that land back to Ukraine would lead to further bloodshed. And yes I have heard actual Russians having that position (I'm not Russian fwiw)

ALL Russians cheered when they annexed Crimea, and NONE of them want to give it back to Ukraine, because NONE of them believe it belongs to Ukraine, counter to international agreement.

You might think this is normal, I don't. And because of that, I don't agree with statements like "it's not the Russian people, only the Russian government".

You didn't mention any Russian that sees it differently, and you confirm everything what I say. Except for the fact that you think it's normal and I don't.

Edit: What I said above is not correct and I apologize for that. After the annexation of Crimea, there was a protest in Russia with thousands of protesters. Some prominent politicians also openly opposed it.

I assume the Russians with whom I have talked to and don't think that forceful annexation was a good thing don't count under your "NONE" description.

Perhaps it's because they are few of them (fair enough mine is just personal experience, not a poll)

Or perhaps it's because you consider everybody who believes that Crimea is now populated mostly by Russians (and thinks that giving it back now will create more trouble than solve) as people who CHEERED the annexation.

I don't think it logically follows.

But I understand your feeling since there are so many people (even outside of Russia) that literally cheer for Russia getting their empire back. Unfortunate their noise surpasses any ability to have a nuanced conversation about this.

I wished humanity headed towards a peaceful resolution of conflicts where people can seek self determination and autonomy (basque, Catalan, Kurds, Palestinians, ...) instead of resolving such issues with invasion and pandering to imperialistic visions

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of regions and countries which have been transferred to a foreign power through "international agreement". Probably even your own birthplace at one time or another in history. And those agreements almost never has anything to do with what is right or justified, or taking into account the self-determination of the population.

So I don't understand how anybody can support "international agreement" by default. I certainly don't. Regarding Crimea I don't have an opinion, because I don't live there.

Germany was split into two by "international agreement", just as an example.

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