> and Crimea and Donbass do not want to be "defended by you".

Most of my friends are from Crimea and the Donbass because my roots are from the Donbass myself. The Ukrainian army is full of people from Crimea (Tatars) and the Donbass who fight willingly to defend Ukraine. Look up the Donbass battalions of the Ukrainian army. Izyum and Kupyansk were cities I visited in 2021 — perfectly safe until Russia invaded and destroyed.

I should also add that I still read Dostoyevsky and respect Tolstoy and other high Russian culture. But killing Ukrainians? I don’t respect that.

In fact I believe that if Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy were alive today they would oppose the Russian government of today just like they opposed the Russian government of their time.