Russia and Ukraine

[Belacqua]

Yeah... One could say the same about Crimea...

That's true. Different regions change hands as history goes by. 

If the majority of the people in there want to be in Russia, then... those people need to interact with the central governments (Ukraine and Russia) and negotiate their departure. Did they?

They were told very clearly by Poroshenko that they would always be an oppressed minority. No doubt they felt it would be difficult to negotiate with someone like that. 

I agree that the best solution would be a peaceful democratic process to determine sovereignty. So far this has not been allowed by either side.

You have to remember that Ukrainian politics is deeply corrupt. Zelensky is corrupt, his sponsor, the oligarch Kolomoisky was corrupt. There has been no chance for fair democracy. This was common knowledge until last year, at which time the anti-Russian press decided that there are no Nazis and Zelensky is purity itself.

If you lived all your life on the eastern part of Ukraine and spoke Russian, would you escape war by moving through extra war in the rest of Ukraine to Europe, or move towards Russia a few tens of km away?
People are pratical when it comes to staying alive, not patriotic.

All this to say that this statistic is not as meaningfull as you may want to make it seem. 

Of course, you'd go where you speak the language, where you know you are more likely to be welcomed. 

I don't see it as purely patriotic to go where it's safer. There's a reason why Russian-speaking Ukrainians don't feel safe in Ukraine under recent governments. 

Jee... I wonder which side first brought hundreds of thousads of troops in?

Both sides are guilty of violence. It's overly simple to say that Russia started something out of the blue, simply as a land grab or out of Hitler-like hunger for power. 

Putin stated two clear objectives for the war, which are exactly what people had been predicting for decades. It would have been better for Russia to settle these things peacefully, but America made it clear that Russia's interests would not be considered. It would have been better for the US to keep its hands off, not interfere in Ukraine's business, not directly threaten Russia, not take steps clearly intended to weaken Russia. The US has invaded countries with far less justification. This doesn't mean other countries should follow America's lead, but it makes American criticism hypocritical.