Ukraine’s Facebook Status

Another thing that annoys me is hearing the situation in Ukraine described in the language of Facebook status updates.

“It’s too complicated. It’s impossible to understand what’s going on there,” people keep writing in their tweets, posts, and articles.

In reality, things couldn’t be simpler. One country brought its troops into the territory of another country and refuses to remove them. What’s not to understand? What happened in the Maidan, why Yanukovich was ousted, where he is now, etc – none of this changes the central important fact: a country is being invaded.

Look at your own country, whichever it is. I’m sure there’s a lot of stuff going on that is not amazing or that outsiders might not understand. People are protesting or striking, students are agitating, nationalists are sloganeering, the economy is in the toilet, politicians are corrupt, people get jailed unfairly, crime rates are high, somebody is seeking independence. If any of these things are happening where you live, do you think it justifies the neighboring country bringing hundreds of armored vehicles into your town and occupying public buildings?

Ukrainians are just like you. We are human, we are very imperfect, often bumbling, sometimes outright stupid. But none of these very human failings justify a foreign army moving in.

And there’s nothing complicated about this idea.