!ukraine@sopuli.xyz is in an interesting (bad) place right now, i think. i was accused there of calling for a genocide against russians when i was actually trying to discourage another user, who expressed fascist tendencies elsewhere on the net, from encouraging exactly that while ALSO not suggesting that Ukrainians don’t have a right to resistance. another admin around here was also banned for posting an analysis of how russian propaganda mechanisms work to manufacture consent to continue their illegal invasion, with the mod saying that this was sympathy for russia.

i am empathetic to that maintaining a community about Ukraine and centering Ukrainian perspectives is hard, nearing impossible, right now. i would even go so far as to say that the moderation team there is doing a fair to good job, and that those challenges are compounded by the prevalence of people on the threadiverse who take an unnuanced “anything the US does, i take the opposite position.” however, in cases like these i think they hit a wrongheaded position, leading me to conclude with a mixture of CLM and PTB.

the world outside our little digital network here is filled with shades and colors that are not conducive to black and white thinking. the Ukrainians i talk to want, first and foremost, to exist in a state of freedom where there is peace and justice. they however feel that given their standing within the world economic order, that means finding safe haven amongst one of the three northern imperiums. for over a century, that meant alignment with russia. following the murder of Georgiy Gongadze, this was no longer viewed as a position that could be sustained. thus began a process finding alignment with another northern power, the US, the EU, and NATO. this arrangement has not been ideal, or even at all times favorable, but it was the path the people i talk to felt gave them the most chance at eventually finding some degree of independence from any of the northern empires.

i think you are QUITE right to assess Ukraine’s position in priority alongside israel and Iran. many of the people in the Black Sea Basin and southwest Asia view these as deeply interrelated world events, with the US’s support for Ukraine vastly drying up as it shifted its focus to helping israel conduct a higher degree of genocide in Gaza, and evaporating entirely to conduct a war of choice against Iran. that Ukraine’s government aligns itself with israel and against Iran is not a universally popular position, and is with the people i talk to seen as an expedient for short term survival that must be adjusted for in the long term.

idk how to wrap up this long rambly comment.

i guess just All Power to All the Motherfuckin’ People