So I decided to find out what compels some Ukrainians to support Russia’s invasion of their own country and discussed this issue with some distant relatives on Facebook.
What I discovered is that these relatives are convinced that Russia is fighting a war against the United States. The relatives try to avoid the word “Ukraine” as much as possible and react very aggressively when I tell them that there are no NATO troops in Eastern Ukraine.
“But Russia has the right to defend itself against the NATO!” they keep repeating.
They also exhibit an intense and very racialized hatred of Obama who, in their opinion, has orchestrated the NATO’s invasion of Ukraine to improve the US’s economy. I didn’t manage to comprehend this particular argument in spite of people explaining it to me at length. It has something to do with Obama trying to stave off inflation in the US by means of his invasion of Ukraine.

Leave a comment