the group […] was not trying to have a socialist revolution in Ukraine, but rejoin Russia (who is not socialist, so honestly no idea what you are talking about)
Ukraine was not on the brink of a socialist revolution, but it was in the middle of a NATO-backed coup spearheaded by nationalist groups like the OUN which desired to exterminate socialists and ethnic Russians alike. The pragmatic course of action for socialists in such a predicament is to seek asylum with the nearby liberal democracy that opposes those same nationalist groups and with which you share cultural ties.
Even though Russia is sadly no longer socialist, as you point out, its socialist past is still held in high regard by many and the country is not tearing down its Soviet monuments and replacing them with ones dedicated to Nazi collaborators.
I’m characterizing the separation as asylum for the entire oblast of Odessa.
Russia is a semi-presidential republic like France and Portugal. It’s not typically classified as a “liberal democracy” simply due to racism IMO[1]—although I’ll grant that it’s probably more homophobic than those two.
Edit: In truth, I think “liberal democracy” is a useless and chauvinist term. I used it to be provocative.
For example, the BBC is free to operate in Russia, but RT is not free to operate in the UK. Despite this, the UK is near the top of the “press freedumb” chart, and Russia is near the bottom, because Russians are mean and scary. ↩︎
Ukraine was not on the brink of a socialist revolution, but it was in the middle of a NATO-backed coup spearheaded by nationalist groups like the OUN which desired to exterminate socialists and ethnic Russians alike. The pragmatic course of action for socialists in such a predicament is to seek asylum with the nearby liberal democracy that opposes those same nationalist groups and with which you share cultural ties.
Even though Russia is sadly no longer socialist, as you point out, its socialist past is still held in high regard by many and the country is not tearing down its Soviet monuments and replacing them with ones dedicated to Nazi collaborators.
I, uh, do not believe we have the same definitions for those words.
I’m characterizing the separation as asylum for the entire oblast of Odessa.
Russia is a semi-presidential republic like France and Portugal. It’s not typically classified as a “liberal democracy” simply due to racism IMO[1]—although I’ll grant that it’s probably more homophobic than those two.
Edit: In truth, I think “liberal democracy” is a useless and chauvinist term. I used it to be provocative.
For example, the BBC is free to operate in Russia, but RT is not free to operate in the UK. Despite this, the UK is near the top of the “press freedumb” chart, and Russia is near the bottom, because Russians are mean and scary. ↩︎
I’m guessing unless a country actively participates in a genocide then it’s not a liberal democracy.