>>212938265And yet they have Russian looking buildings and the language they speak sounds Eastern European. There's also a "we're actually liberating them from a regime" justification given to the press, similar to the bullshit "akshully Ukrainians want to be Russian and we're saving them" claims they threw out in press statements.
It's a mix of both, and probably other situations elsewhere in the world. Making it 1:1 is simplistic.