Now there's an image that prompts a reach for the mind-bleach.
Donetsk and Lugansk are about as Russian as they have always been. This is pretty much how they voted in 2015 after repulsing Kiev soldiers in the aftermath of the Maidan. These areas really are very Russian, identify as Russian and speak Russian - which is why immediately after the coup the new regime banned the use of the Russian language and has ever since been involved in a protracted campaign of (deadly) harassment to drive this population out of Ukraine.Isn't it amazing what a difference it makes to results when ballots are taken door-to-door with a machine-gun escort?
And yet they still felt the need to (at least partially) conduct "referendums" at gunpoint.Donetsk and Lugansk are about as Russian as they have always been. This is pretty much how they voted in 2015...
Yes, it's at gunpoint, but it's US guns in the hands of Kiev. If anything the anti-Kiev sentiment has hardened since the first referendum 8 years ago (which Russia did not recognize). The citizens in those areas have lived under Ukrainian shelling for almost a decade now and death squads have taken out a lot of the heroes of that war as well as civilians.And yet they still felt the need to (at least partially) conduct "referendums" at gunpoint.
It's only lifting its own weight. Really, those Eastern oblasts never followed Kiev in the split from Russia. They were always voting in pro-Russian politicians (who were turfed from office or killed when the coup happened).As an aside, the word "always" is also doing some lifting there. Go back to the 90s and it's a different story.
-edit-It's only lifting its own weight. Really, those Eastern oblasts never followed Kiev in the split from Russia.