u/Creeemi - originally from r/GenZhou
Also why are there two republics and not one? And was/is there really genocide in Donbas? I know about the 2014 fascist led coup by NATO aligned neo nazis and all that, but I dont really understand about the situatoin in east Ukraine, except that they are mostly russian speaking and have pro russian sentiments (which the west ukrainians dont like).
Edit: Also what exactly is Minsk II, why do people say its dead and who broke it and why?
u/Ganem1227 - originally from r/GenZhouIt would be naive to say Russia doesn’t have imperialist ambitions, however they are forced by circumstance into the anti-imperialist camp. They’re boxed in by the west, they have nationalized industries that the west wants, and their own people don’t want their government to go on military adventures abroad, at least on the same scale as the US.
United Russia is strong now because they have to make alliances with the Russian working class to resist Western pressure. It’s very telling that the KPRF is the second largest party and is rising in popularity.
u/cfgaussian - originally from r/GenZhouThe most clear proof of the Russian bourgeoisie’s imperialist ambitions is Putin’s own admission of wanting to join NATO in 2000. If that had happened they would gladly have become part of the imperialist bloc with the Russian bourgeoisie taking their share of the spoils. However that is not what the US had in mind for Russia, they were never going to treat them as a (lesser) partner in their imperialist ventures like they do the Europeans, but as the target of their imperialism and neo-colonialism, as they are treating Ukraine now, as another periphery to export capital to, monopolize its markets, extract its resources. They wanted to dismantle Russia as a power and turn it into a neo-colony. They could never abide another strong nation in their imperialist camp, only vassals, and Russia could never have been one.
Thus Russia was forced by circumstance into the anti-imperialist camp, and they are quite firmly in it now that their alliance with China has solidified, they are offering help and support to other targets of US imperialism like Syria, Iran, Venezuela, Nicaragua, etc. This is not to say that the situation in Russia itself is very rosy, it is still ruled by capitalists, reactionaries and anti-communists, the conditions for workers are not great, in effect in Russia the national bourgeoisie has won out over the comprador bourgeoisie. Of course the situation would undoubtedly be even worse if a neoliberal western puppet were to take over, but still, while we as non-Russians should support Russia’s foreign policy, it is up to the Russians themselves to kick out the oligarchs ruling them and bring back communism.