Theatres Of War?

I must admit I have long been puzzled over Ukrainian Nationalists insisting on re-taking the Donbas, whose people they despise as “Asiatic mongrels” and “Muscovite orks”, and thousands of whom they killed between 2014 and 2022. Maybe it’s the mineral wealth, but that seems a weak enough motivation. I have also noticed how they fortify and defend to the last cities in the East until they are utterly destroyed and wondered if they would do that with their “own” cities further west. I doubt it somehow. It seems to be a case of “if we can’t have them, you will only have them as compete ruins.” After all, it’s pretty clear Putin has no ambitions beyond these Russian-majority territories. 

Philip O’Connor, 23.7.25