I don’t support what is going on, I want to put that out there.
But, my faith in British media being factual was shifted considerably following Brexit and the campaign leading up to it. I also am related to people in Eastern Europe. And what jumps out is that NO news is the unvarnished truth.
The live action now is indisputable but who gave who money/weapons/info in the past. Who propped up what regimes, who ‘owned’ the land - that stuff is shrouded in misinformation from ALL sides. It doesn’t make this ok, but please, stop citing Russian propaganda when someone tries to point out a different perspective on perceived wrongs. No, this invasion is never, ever justified, but let’s not become who we’re reviling and get insulting at different ideas being put forward.
Many people (no, I don’t have a link, a report or a %, just my experience in those countries and with some of the people) do have a view (weird though it may be to western ears) that things were better in the soviet years, they speak about Gorbachev like some speak of Blair, and they see the west as being the authors of the unstable world. That’s their lived truth, it isn’t ours, but it’s a bit arrogant just dismissing how they feel.
And whilst we of course unreservedly denounce this attack, if we don’t start to try to understand the mindset, if not agree, then there will be no peaceful solution. It doesn’t matter who starts it,what matters is who, and how it is ended.