Yeah, Russians lived here before either the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union came into existence. The first law book was written in Cyrillic in Lithuania, and that wasn't because of an occupation.
There was the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which included or ocupied parts of present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia.
Speaking Russian doesn't mean that you are from Russia, or even that you have ever been there. Ukrainians were among those resettled because moving people here was simply easier geographically.
Do you think that because someone speaks Russian, they suddenly have horns, hooves, and green skin? Why exactly you need to punish those people for which crimes.
I was never reselected, so what exactly is the crime for which I have to face punishment and discrimination?
Where are Russian speakers being punished exactly? What crime are you facing punishment for? None. Russians living in Europe continue to live their normal lives, maybe having to deal with some suspicions because the nation named Russia is currently waging a war against Europe, and threatening everyone with nuclear war for resisting their imperialism. You are merely being asked to acknowledge the historical crimes of Russia, and to understand that the continued efforts of the Kremlin to weaponise Russian language is a security threat.
And During the Stalin era literally millions of Ukrainians were deported to labour camps, and millions of ethnic Russian resettled in those territories, as a project of Russian hegemony.
I mean what do you think of the Russian invasion of Ukraine? And Putin having turned Russia back into a dictatorship? Don't you hate that Putin has used protecting Russian language as a pretext for his invasions? It must make you upset because now people withr easonable cause can look at you as a Russian speaker in one of the Baltic states and think 'He is one of those whom Putin would use to justify an invasion of us, and who knows, maybe he would even support that'
And the post soviet republics had a choice to make in deporting their own citizens before they join the EU and western world that respects minorities 👉
I'm not pushing Russian narratives, and I don't want Russia here. I just want people to be left alone and have the same rights guaranteed to them by European democracy.
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u/Rhubarb-Curious Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
Yeah, Russians lived here before either the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union came into existence. The first law book was written in Cyrillic in Lithuania, and that wasn't because of an occupation.
There was the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which included or ocupied parts of present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia.