Literally almost every single country in the world (Liechtenstein, Andorra, San Marino, etc. excluded) is doing to minorities what Ukraine was doing to Russian minorities in eastern Russia. Cultural repression. Dialect repression. Does that mean outside allies of the minority should create a war that gets hundreds of thousands wounded and killed? No.
Do you deny that Ukraine is far more democratic (or if you prefer, its synonym, less undemocratic) than Russia? Are you on the side of democracy or not? I can see arguing against helping Ukraine from a realpolitik perspective, but you don’t seem to be doing that. You seem to think Russia has legitimate gripes, which is ridiculous.
I'm not a fan of dominant cultures in charge of governments using their governmental powers to repress minority cultures, but the proper way to address this isn't war. It's peaceful community building. And it’s super easy for Russian minorities in eastern Ukraine to build their own supportive communities since they’re so close geographically to a world power that shares their dialect/subculture.
And let's be even more frank: I agree with a lot of current Russian leaders: Ukraine really isn't that much of a different country or culture from Russia. But the flip side of that observation isn't favorable to Russian propaganda: Any "Russian minority" in Ukraine isn't that much of a meaningful or significant minority since Ukrainians and Russians are so close. The other proper way to deal with this is self-determination no matter culture or language, as I advocate in this article.
Most human languages are dying out right now. Those are rare languages and cultures that need protecting. “Ethnic Russians” do not need help or sympathy other than a general mandate that everyone (including Ukrainians from Russians) deserves self-determination. You clearly are not on the side of actual minorities undergoing actual extinction or actual repression; you’re on the side of finding excuses for war.
And worse, if you think this “protecting ethnic Russians in Ukraine” justification is meaningful, what about the ethnic minorities in Russia right now that the Russian government is gradually causing to go extinct, like the Karelians, Buratyia, and countless others? Who’s gonna invade Russia on their behalf to protect them like you think Russia’s justified in invading Ukraine to protect “ethnic Russians in Ukraine” just like Hitler constantly used that same excuse to “protect ethnic Germans in Czechoslovakia and POland”?
