JW Insider

Then perhaps you need to be neutered..then you might calm down and be peaceable puppy who couldn’t careless…😁

That may be preferable to what is coming ….

…..
 

Hahah….yes I do have trouble with it …especially when it’s written…sarcasm is another that I cannot discern ..in written form…I think I get muddy in it too…which is funny really as B Splane at our last big convention said….” You Australians need to be careful with your speech as some think you come over as harsh and sarcastic “…..I smiled as he said that..( as I know I come over as blunt..) 
 

Okay got you..but it’s hard to read sarcasm and flippancy…for me anyway..just when I thought I had worked you out you screwed with my head….all good..✌️

Yes we must have free right as to which government we choose to come under …we make that decision at baptism….and we take and bear the consequences of that decision.
we dont get baptized if we Choose  to vote for a man made ..or still desire to participate in such things …..doesn’t take a scientist to work that one out.

Of course, I was being a bit flippant. I was thinking a bit like Dmitar when he used this kind of wordplay a while back in another topic:
The Watchtower did something similar when we used to emphasize more often that even Abel was one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Using the same reasoning, if you are a Witness, I would certainly hope you are also both a Restorationist and a Unitarian. I know you knew what I meant, but for those who didn't, I'll offer a bit more explanation.
If you believe there is only one God then you are a Unitarian and not a Trinitarian. Merriam-Webster includes the following as the very first Definition of unitarian:
1a often capitalized : one who believes that the deity exists only in one person
And the Watchtower recognizes this as a the primary tenet of unitarianism.
*** w77 4/15 p. 247 Isaac Newton’s Search for God ***
Our Unitarian Heritage, by Earl M. Wilbur, Boston 1925, pp. 289-294.
*** w57 7/15 p. 428 par. 3 The Holy Spirit—Third Person of Trinity or God’s Active Force? ***
With but very few exceptions the creeds of Christendom state that God’s holy spirit is the third person of a trinity, coequal, coeternal and cosubstantial with the Father and the Son. . . . An exception is the Unitarian creed . . . ”—Dictionary of Religious Knowledge, Abbott.
And of course we believe strongly that the true religion should be restored according to first century Christianity rather than the apostasy that took over mostly from the second century onward, which was the goal of the Restorationist movement that Russell participated in:
*** w14 5/15 p. 26 par. 1 Are You Moving Ahead With Jehovah’s Organization? ***
JEHOVAH is rightly credited with the establishment of the Christian congregation in the first century and with the restoration of true worship in recent times.
*** g89 10/22 p. 20 Part 20—19th Century Onward—Restoration Imminent! ***
Clearly, what was needed was restoration, the restoration of true worship!...Back in the first century, Jesus reactivated true worship in the form of Christianity. Yet, he prophesied that there would be an apostasy. ... In the latter half of the 19th century, the appointed time for this restoration of true worship was at the doors.  Charles Taze Russell was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1852...
@Space Merchant appears to use this same idea of restorationism similar to the first sentence under that topic in Wikipedia.
Restorationism (or Christian primitivism) is the belief that Christianity has been or should be restored along the lines of what is known about the apostolic early church, which restorationists see as the search for a purer and more ancient form of the religion.[1][2][3]

Of course, I was being a bit flippant. I was thinking a bit like Dmitar when he used this kind of wordplay a while back in another topic:
The Watchtower did something similar when we used to emphasize more often that even Abel was one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Using the same reasoning, if you are a Witness, I would certainly hope you are also both a Restorationist and a Unitarian. I know you knew what I meant, but for those who didn't, I'll offer a bit more explanation.
If you believe there is only one God then you are a Unitarian and not a Trinitarian. Merriam-Webster includes the following as the very first Definition of unitarian:
1a often capitalized : one who believes that the deity exists only in one person
And the Watchtower recognizes this as a the primary tenet of unitarianism.
*** w77 4/15 p. 247 Isaac Newton’s Search for God ***
Our Unitarian Heritage, by Earl M. Wilbur, Boston 1925, pp. 289-294.
*** w57 7/15 p. 428 par. 3 The Holy Spirit—Third Person of Trinity or God’s Active Force? ***
With but very few exceptions the creeds of Christendom state that God’s holy spirit is the third person of a trinity, coequal, coeternal and cosubstantial with the Father and the Son. . . . An exception is the Unitarian creed . . . ”—Dictionary of Religious Knowledge, Abbott.
And of course we believe strongly that the true religion should be restored according to first century Christianity rather than the apostasy that took over mostly from the second century onward, which was the goal of the Restorationist movement that Russell participated in:
*** w14 5/15 p. 26 par. 1 Are You Moving Ahead With Jehovah’s Organization? ***
JEHOVAH is rightly credited with the establishment of the Christian congregation in the first century and with the restoration of true worship in recent times.
*** g89 10/22 p. 20 Part 20—19th Century Onward—Restoration Imminent! ***
Clearly, what was needed was restoration, the restoration of true worship!...Back in the first century, Jesus reactivated true worship in the form of Christianity. Yet, he prophesied that there would be an apostasy. ... In the latter half of the 19th century, the appointed time for this restoration of true worship was at the doors.  Charles Taze Russell was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1852...
@Space Merchant appears to use this same idea of restorationism similar to the first sentence under that topic in Wikipedia.
Restorationism (or Christian primitivism) is the belief that Christianity has been or should be restored along the lines of what is known about the apostolic early church, which restorationists see as the search for a purer and more ancient form of the religion.[1][2][3]

As long as it is not such a surprise that a rocket attack blows it to smithereens and spreads the pathogens around the globe.

Czech-mate!

Apparently according to one Twitter user: these labs are co-run by Fauci's EcoHealth Alliance and rumor is Russia's entire military operation right now is unofficially to either secure and/or destroy these labs and gather evidence.
Also from the UK Ministry of Defense Tweet: Since the end of February there has been a notable intensification of Russian accusations that Ukraine is developing nuclear or biological weapons. These narratives are long standing but are currently likely being amplified as part of a retrospective justification for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Bloomberg News

March 8, 2022, 4:35 AM EST

China accused the U.S. military of operating “dangerous” biolabs in Ukraine, echoing a Russian conspiracy theory that Western officials warned could be part of an effort to retroactively justify President Vladimir Putin’s invasion. 

“U.S. biolabs in Ukraine have indeed attracted much attention recently,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Tuesday in response to a question from a local reporter, adding that “all dangerous pathogens in Ukraine must be stored in these labs and all research activities are led by the U.S. side.”

He called on “relevant sides to ensure the safety of these labs” and said “the U.S., as the party that knows the labs the best, should disclose specific information as soon as possible, including which viruses are stored and what research has been conducted.”

 
The comments mirror the diversion tactics China’s diplomats used last year when questioned about the origins of Covid-19. Back then they frequently pointed to Fort Detrick, a U.S. military facility in Maryland that the Soviet Union falsely claimed in the 1980s was the source of the virus causing Aids and that Zhao again referenced Tuesday.

Britain’s Defense Ministry said in a Tweet on Tuesday that it had noticed an up-tick in allegations by Russia that Ukraine is working on biological or nuclear weapons. “These narratives are long standing but are currently likely being amplified as part of a retrospective justification for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” it added.

Since 1991, a unit of the Department of Defense has cooperated with former satellites of the Soviet Union, including Ukraine, to secure and take apart weapons of mass destruction that have been left behind.

The Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program is intended to “support defense and military cooperation with the objective of preventing proliferation,” according to U.S. non-profit organization the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.

China has walked a fine diplomatic line since Russia attacked Ukraine. It has in recent years been making the case that as a richer, more powerful nation it deserves a bigger say on the world stage. Yet it also wants the benefits of closer ties with Moscow, largely to offset what it sees as Washington’s undue influence.

Zhao repeated at the press briefing that China’s position on Ukraine remains “consistent and clear cut,” signaling that the Asian nation is still trying to avoid picking a side on the issue.

When asked whether China was ready to say that Russia had “invaded” its Eastern European neighbor, Zhao said: “I don’t think the question is of any point.”

— With assistance by Philip Glamann

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-08/china-pushes-russia-conspiracy-theory-about-u-s-labs-in-ukraine


 

 
 

Some more reading:
https://www.codastory.com/disinformation/does-the-us-have-a-secret-germ-warfare-lab-on-russias-doorstep/

I’ll concede that some of the artwork in JW publications is ridiculed. But sometimes it is spot-on. Those pics of the people of God surrounded by frothing, raging, and undisciplined hooligans, shaking their fists in the air—promising freedom but being slaves themselves to corruption—Those pics could not fit anyone more closely. I mean, the guy was the public face of anti-Witness “activism.”

Probably not all of them are here, but some available on web archive:
https://web.archive.org/web/20170130193016/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/dtro-kharkiv-eng.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20170221125752/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/dtro-dnipropetrovsk-eng.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20210511164310/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/dtro-luhansk-eng.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20170207122550/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/dtro-kherson-fact-sheet-eng.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20170223011502/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/dtro-ternopil-fact-sheet-eng.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20170208032526/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/dtro-zakarpatska-fact-sheet-eng.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20170202040923/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/dtro-lviv-dl-eng.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20170201004446/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/dtro-lviv-rdvl-eng.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20161230143004/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/dtro-eidss.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20210506212717/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/dtro-pathogen-asset-control.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20170207153023/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/dtro-dnipropetrovsk-rdvl_eng.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20170211022339/https://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/kiev-ivm-fact-sheet-eng.pdf
 

Copied from https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-03-07/Russia-reveals-evidence-of-U-S-funded-bio-program-in-Ukraine-18cUbBlPXhu/index.html
--------------------------all of the below is copied---------------------
U.S. embassy deletes files on Ukrainian bio-labs
According to a report of The Rio Times and a Twitter message posted by the Brazilian new agency's investigative journalist Dilyana Gaytandzhieva, the American Embassy in Ukraine on February 26 removed all documents about Pentagon-financed bio-labs in Ukraine from its website. But they forgot to remove a document showing that the Pentagon is funding two new biolabs in Kyiv and Odesa.
One of the old labs financed by the U.S. in Ukraine is located in Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city. In January 2016, at least 20 Ukrainian soldiers died there from a flu-like virus in two days while another 200 soldiers were hospitalized. However, the Ukrainian government did not provide details on the soldiers who died.
  A screenshot of The Rio Times' investigative journalist Dilyana Gaytandzhieva's Tweet.
U.S.-funded overseas bio-labs concerns
The U.S. has set up over 200 bio-labs in 25 countries and regions across the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and the former Soviet Union, with 16 in Ukraine alone.
Some of the places where the labs are based have seen large-scale outbreaks of measles and other dangerous infectious diseases, triggering international concerns about the safety of U.S. overseas laboratories.

You almost would think it would make more sense for Russia to raise this admission before invasion, not after. Get a few more people to see their point of view that way. 

Assuming that many world-watchers these days were much younger than I am, and assuming that most of us also have short memories, I will jump to the major events of 1991-1994 or so, before going back to pick up more history from between the 1930s and the 1960's.
1991 to 1994:
The fall of the USSR included the US selecting Yeltsin and his vice-president (PM) Putin, to put into power. It was a violent coup in the midst of very large pro-communist protests in Moscow. The US gave tons of money and intelligence support. Naturally, the US backed the privatization of all major industries and factories. Yeltsin/Putin had US support to abolish the constitutional bicameral legislature to rule by Presidential Decree only and ban political parties (1993). Yeltsin sent tanks and shelled his own government buildings when the elected representatives refused to accept this.
 
The US then promised Yeltsin/Putin that NATO would no longer try to expand even "one inch to the East." But seeing that Russia might be able to integrate economically into Europe because of its control of 30% to 40% of Europe's gas supply (along with oil, potash and other resources) the US decided to break that promise. The US capitalists wanted the gas/oil monopoly, and used NATO as a bullying army to protect monopolistic interests against resources in Yugoslavia, Syria, and Iraq -- literally killing MILLIONS. The Nord Stream 2 was a cooperative effort between Germany and Russia to supply natural gas, which would also have interfered with the monopolistic goal of the US. Russia had already figured this out when NATO bombed Yugoslavia and when NATO used the strategy of recruiting parties of former European Nazis/ultra-nationalists to help use ethnic differences to split up countries.
 
Russian officials had declared countries along their border as the "Red Line" that NATO wouldn't cross, so the US pushed, not just NATO expansion to Russia's border, but even nuclear weapon across that line wherever possible -- so that Russia would be surrounded with US-supported troops and weapons. 
 
This is the part of the background to the recent statement by Adam Schiff, when he declared in January 2020, that we are using Ukraine to “fight Russia over there so we don't have to fight Russia here.”
 
But back to the 1990's. With the fall of the USSR, nearly all the once-Soviet countries suffered from the capitalist privatizations. In Russia, Armenia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, for example, it quickly led to deep poverty, unemployment, etc. What was rarely reported in the West was actual starvation, mass emigrations, and even millions of deaths across these countries. With employment, trade and production interrupted, people tried to provide for their own dietary needs through gardening. This was much greater damage in Eastern Europe even than that of the Great Depression.
 
In GDP terms, the Ukraine itself has still not recovered from the 1991 independence. This makes a country ripe for partisan strife and civil war. About 30% of the population is Russian (or Russian-Ukrainian). The ethnic diversity around the ex-Soviet states left Russians, Georgians. Poles. Armenians in additional potential conflict in many places.  Examples were the conflicts in Azerbaijan and Armenia, and even worse in the case of Georgia, where wars occurred in 1991, 2004 and 2008 between Georgians in the south and "pro-Russia" Ossetians in the north bordering with Russia. Russia intervened especially in 2008.
 
Although Putin sees the fall of the USSR a "major geopolitical disaster of the century," he has not given indications that he supports reconstituting it, as the West will often claim. (Even by purposely mistranslating Putin's comments.) But he does acknowledge that tens of millions of Russians "patriots" immediately found themselves outside Russian territory.
 
This is why most of the Ukrainians who fled Ukraine during the last 8 years of US-supported bombing of their own citizens were actually fleeing to Russia. Even now many Ukrainians who end up fleeing to Poland would prefer to flee to Russia but the entire border is now an "eastern front."  A third of Ukrainians still claim nostalgia for the USSR, since their standard of living was somewhat higher for most of them. And Moscow's leadership often showed preferential treatment for Ukrainians, since many of those leaders were from Ukraine to begin with.  Polls (Gallup, Pew) show that this nostalgia, believing things were better, is actually a majority view in many former Soviet states, even parts of Germany.
 
But with the former state-backed industries sold off to capitalists and "oligarchs," there has also been a terrible influence of corruption along with an associated right-wing influence in politics. The oligarchs (and oligarch-backed politicians) were inclined to pay the OUN and neo-Nazi street gangs to serve as their own mafia protection, which helped legitimized the Nazi problem. (Should note that the word "oligarch" tends to imply non-Western corruption, but it's just as true in the West that the billionaire pharmacy leaders, the billionaire tech leaders, the billionaire petroleum giants, etc., are just as much oligarchs, and also spend millions upon millions in the West to influence decisions of government.)
 
Ukraine's Nazi problem is openly out of control, but similar issues have arisen in Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania, etc.

I simply speak truth to the best of my ability, whatever anyone does with the information, so be it. I think he brings you in in order to make an appeal that only backfires, ironically, he brings in Witness, although she is essentially like Ms. Haven, it is kind of odd to add to her words. In addition to that he is extremely lucky, I never quote his last tenures because it would break some of his notations with his new name/tenure.
That being said, concerning the topic itself, in short, it is known that your faith community still preaches the gospel, namely over the phone and letters. Hence the COVID-19 restrictions, of which was mentioned.
So my response to Butler was correct, none of them are preaching to different houses. Perhaps soon you may be doing so, but you have to understand, things are different now. I remember telling @ApostaBabe Linda James that because of the change in society, especially now, preaching to houses will be somewhat difficult and or problematic. Likewise with any of your churches opening back up, you have to be extremely vigilant now, hence the change in society and the mindset of people. I also talked about Gangstalkers, any religious institution that opened a while back became subjected to such types, so even when there is happiest of going back to an institution, you still have to be hyper vigilant of those who come to said institution for their own personal gain, as is theft.
So in short, extra precaution and safety.
While your faith community was away, there were some religious folks of the Mainstream who acted as a substitute for those who normally preach the gospel. From the Black Hebrew Israelites to the Jehovah Warrior types who think Jesus is Jehovah, as is the ones who claim COVID-19 Endemic was somehow judgement from God, even those who use ill influence to spread some weird Exegesis about God and Jesus that makes no sense. So when you do return, you shouldn't be surprised to see some of these folks come around, as is your embolden opposition from the EXJW camp, more influenced by not only conspiracy, but ideas from the Mainstream. On top of that Babylon herself is more dangerous than before, so Mainstream Christendom does hold some more power, and some tricks.
There will be political conflict. The mention of Pearl's followers and some of their ideas resulting in Right Wing Conservatives to confront them, that should some form of awareness of what is to come when things open back up. Then there is the level of Authoritarianism and the broken justice system.
Therefore, watch your step, not for yourself, but for those around you.
 
 

I did not know of some churches going door to door…I know SDA do try off course the Mormons..and I know some have tried individually go door to door..which is commendable…but they sort of don’t last….
Aso to being a different world out there I also totally get your concern.
A sister and I were talking on this point ourselves and not looking forward to going door to door again or cart witnessing due to the change in people .
People are now angrier than ever…so many unemployed and on government payments…lost employment..a drop in the manner of living.
Prices of food up as well as petrol…floods and fires and a virus that has terrified everyone and a corrupt government….so yeah we really hope no more door to door work….it’s a different world out there now..

Truth is truth Dmitar…I even upvote you when you speak truths ..

I was never part of the Unitarian Church at all. I remember mentioning my upbringing as a Biblical Unitarian before. I am aware of others in Unitarianism who do go to a physical church, but my case was quite different, as is my baptism, in a literally small waterfall, Bassin Bleu. As for being an Islander, hence the title, also true due to where I was raised, which is why I Dmitar had trouble around dealing with cultural aspects a while back. As for faith, it was mostly built up in the household itself. In your case, your faith community had actual churches to go to. Unfortunately, what Dmitar fail to see is the upbringings of different people is vastly different.
As for Truthers, I mentioned to Butler before, the term originated in 9/11 - 9/11 truth movement, in which the word was used whereas later on, the term became associated with people wanting to know what is true by means of facts and evidence pertaining to various things and events, for example, the situation with Propaganda used to mislead, something of that nature, we try to look for actual facts of said information to see what is true and what is false despite the opposition from the paradigm and the MSM, who often times tried to link us with legitimate Conspiracy Theorists. Granted the branches in the community is vast, for some try to help out in various situations, many in one's area, like recently, a missing person, and or things of that nature, even things pretending to what Butler yells about the most, CSA. Some are those who broke away from the MSM, to others those effected by the 2008 events, even their children end up in this route to essentially avenge their parents, for a repeat is happening now but the people are prepared. Others the lies of the MSM or political figures, to some, corruption, etc. In my case, falsehoods and ill influence pushed by the paradigm. So much so the influence of finding truth spread out to others. We somehow cross paths with Journalists who are independent. There are some who do pretend to be Truthers,  for example, we had a couple  former members of your faith who attempted only to get called out for it, one was mentioned by name in another thread, as is him being exposed as a Wiccan Paganist.
For a number of events pushed me into that community and for a long time now, even as of recent with all the propaganda. Even more with legitimate rivals I had cross paths which who are extremely twisted, broken and or misguided by the paradigm and it's influence.
That being said, outside of Babylon, there are threats, the MSM is one, but there are others too.
As for how I got here, was due to the debates whereas not only I debated one of your own, but numerous Trinitarians who were apparently attacking Muslims in a discussion whereas some Triune believers cited some people here concerning information to defend the Trinity. If it were not for that heated debate, I'd still be at CSE and elsewhere. I never began debating here until I was challenged by Cos, Shiwii and Matthew, but Cos primarily.

It should be noted that those of a specific Status may dodge a couple of bullets in the UK; smaller fish will get hit, but not the largest ones in the pond. Likewise with other countries, even the US, in which there is a lot of corruption revolving around money.

I have just been listening to a discussion.... actually it was the presentation of a bill to the house of commons about cracking down on illegal wealth in the UK. Finally! However, the funny, or I should say the sad thing is that no doubt some of the MPs there may have friends, or may themselves be directly or indirectly involved in illegal wealth. Ha! 
Addition: the reason for this bill of course is because of the recent spotlight on corrupt Russian oligarchs and the fact that London is the money laundering capital of the world. 

Assuming that many world-watchers these days were much younger than I am, and assuming that most of us also have short memories, I will jump to the major events of 1991-1994 or so, before going back to pick up more history from between the 1930s and the 1960's.
1991 to 1994:
The fall of the USSR included the US selecting Yeltsin and his vice-president (PM) Putin, to put into power. It was a violent coup in the midst of very large pro-communist protests in Moscow. The US gave tons of money and intelligence support. Naturally, the US backed the privatization of all major industries and factories. Yeltsin/Putin had US support to abolish the constitutional bicameral legislature to rule by Presidential Decree only and ban political parties (1993). Yeltsin sent tanks and shelled his own government buildings when the elected representatives refused to accept this.
 
The US then promised Yeltsin/Putin that NATO would no longer try to expand even "one inch to the East." But seeing that Russia might be able to integrate economically into Europe because of its control of 30% to 40% of Europe's gas supply (along with oil, potash and other resources) the US decided to break that promise. The US capitalists wanted the gas/oil monopoly, and used NATO as a bullying army to protect monopolistic interests against resources in Yugoslavia, Syria, and Iraq -- literally killing MILLIONS. The Nord Stream 2 was a cooperative effort between Germany and Russia to supply natural gas, which would also have interfered with the monopolistic goal of the US. Russia had already figured this out when NATO bombed Yugoslavia and when NATO used the strategy of recruiting parties of former European Nazis/ultra-nationalists to help use ethnic differences to split up countries.
 
Russian officials had declared countries along their border as the "Red Line" that NATO wouldn't cross, so the US pushed, not just NATO expansion to Russia's border, but even nuclear weapon across that line wherever possible -- so that Russia would be surrounded with US-supported troops and weapons. 
 
This is the part of the background to the recent statement by Adam Schiff, when he declared in January 2020, that we are using Ukraine to “fight Russia over there so we don't have to fight Russia here.”
 
But back to the 1990's. With the fall of the USSR, nearly all the once-Soviet countries suffered from the capitalist privatizations. In Russia, Armenia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, for example, it quickly led to deep poverty, unemployment, etc. What was rarely reported in the West was actual starvation, mass emigrations, and even millions of deaths across these countries. With employment, trade and production interrupted, people tried to provide for their own dietary needs through gardening. This was much greater damage in Eastern Europe even than that of the Great Depression.
 
In GDP terms, the Ukraine itself has still not recovered from the 1991 independence. This makes a country ripe for partisan strife and civil war. About 30% of the population is Russian (or Russian-Ukrainian). The ethnic diversity around the ex-Soviet states left Russians, Georgians. Poles. Armenians in additional potential conflict in many places.  Examples were the conflicts in Azerbaijan and Armenia, and even worse in the case of Georgia, where wars occurred in 1991, 2004 and 2008 between Georgians in the south and "pro-Russia" Ossetians in the north bordering with Russia. Russia intervened especially in 2008.
 
Although Putin sees the fall of the USSR a "major geopolitical disaster of the century," he has not given indications that he supports reconstituting it, as the West will often claim. (Even by purposely mistranslating Putin's comments.) But he does acknowledge that tens of millions of Russians "patriots" immediately found themselves outside Russian territory.
 
This is why most of the Ukrainians who fled Ukraine during the last 8 years of US-supported bombing of their own citizens were actually fleeing to Russia. Even now many Ukrainians who end up fleeing to Poland would prefer to flee to Russia but the entire border is now an "eastern front."  A third of Ukrainians still claim nostalgia for the USSR, since their standard of living was somewhat higher for most of them. And Moscow's leadership often showed preferential treatment for Ukrainians, since many of those leaders were from Ukraine to begin with.  Polls (Gallup, Pew) show that this nostalgia, believing things were better, is actually a majority view in many former Soviet states, even parts of Germany.
 
But with the former state-backed industries sold off to capitalists and "oligarchs," there has also been a terrible influence of corruption along with an associated right-wing influence in politics. The oligarchs (and oligarch-backed politicians) were inclined to pay the OUN and neo-Nazi street gangs to serve as their own mafia protection, which helped legitimized the Nazi problem. (Should note that the word "oligarch" tends to imply non-Western corruption, but it's just as true in the West that the billionaire pharmacy leaders, the billionaire tech leaders, the billionaire petroleum giants, etc., are just as much oligarchs, and also spend millions upon millions in the West to influence decisions of government.)
 
Ukraine's Nazi problem is openly out of control, but similar issues have arisen in Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania, etc.