Comment by CrackerNews

I do think the war could have been avoided too. The last decade has been the pro-Western faction taking the ball and running with it while the pro-Russian faction has been marginalized and sideswept. Ukraine after the USSR has always been in a middle ground between two empires, and the balance has been broken, leading to a war to grab whatever can be grabbed. The Ukrainian nationalists are charging forward in defense while the Russian speaking Ukrainians are staying silent as the Russians invade and the Ukrainian state cracks down on what they see as a fifth column. If I were to be cynical, then I would say that the West gets refugees to use as laborers while Russia makes a profit from oil prices going up.