Your friend had no chance of avoiding violence from the Russian state. Ukrainians have to choose either violence from a puppet state, or violence from the Russian invaders. It might seem like the latter is worse, but the genocide they’ve suffered under the USSR with nobody to fight for them but literal Nazis was fairly miserable too. Famine as a food exporter was brutal, as is family separation and being unable to speak your own language.
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Your friend had no chance of avoiding violence from the Russian state. Ukrainians have to choose either violence from a puppet state, or violence from the Russian invaders. It might seem like the latter is worse, but the genocide they’ve suffered under the USSR with nobody to fight for them but literal Nazis was fairly miserable too. Famine as a food exporter was brutal, as is family separation and being unable to speak your own language.