Quote:
Originally Posted by Itse
No, you don't. There was no "large pro-Russian population" in Ukraine, which is one of the reasons why the initial attack was such a complete failure. Maybe in 2014 this might have been the case, back when the legitimacy of the Kiev government was genuinely under question, but since then Russia has beem very successful in making clear to Ukrainians that even a crappy Kiev government is better than anything Moscow does.
The biggest city in South Eastern Ukraine is (was?) Mariupol and they certainly didn't make Russians feel welcome.
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I'm more referring to the invasions of the Crimea and parts of the Dondas. There definitely was a fair bit of pro Russian sentiment in those areas, with many people being ethnically Russian. Russia also already had a military presence in the eastern Ukraine before this latest conflict started.