[Yoric]

Oh, please, let's not start blaming most Russians.

These sanctions are about ruining the Russian war machine, as well as demonstrating to other authoritarian governments tempted by imperialism that attacking democracies is a bad idea. Individual Russians (with the exception of oligarchs) are collateral damage. And despite the fact that Russians are (probably) going to suffer deeply for it, it's (probably) the right way to do it, because any other strategy (that I can think of) involves either nuclear bombs falling sooner or later.

Of course, if Russians somehow manage to reinstate democracy in their country, that will be the best outcome. But don't count on it, revolutions are hard and deadly.

[CRConrad]

> Oh, please, let's not start blaming most Russians.

Any regime can only stay in power as long as it has the support, active or passive, of a majority of its people. (That's why the German people was held collectively responsible for having abided the Nazi regime, and had to go through collective de-Nazification after WW2.) The fact that, with the exception of short periods of anarchy (most recently: the 1990s), Russia has had authoritarian-to-dictatorial regimes since... Well, since about forever, means that the Russian people has been condoning authoritarian-to-dictatorial regimes since about forever.

High time for a change in that, isn't it? And whom should that be up to... If not the Russian people?

> if Russians somehow manage to reinstate democracy in their country

I think you mean instate democracy, without the re-.

[Yoric]

Have you ever been risked your life and that of your family by being part of a revolutionary movement?

I haven't. I don't know that I would if I lived in a dictatorship. I'm not going to start blaming people because they haven't either.

[CRConrad]

Sure, they may have, from their viewpoint, valid reasons not to do anything about it. And sure, I couldn't swear that I would do any better in their situation. But: So what? Still doesn't mean it's not their fault, just like it would be mine in the same situation. The two are not logically related.

[Yoric]

Victim blaming? I'm not a fan.

[CRConrad]

The victims here are the Ukrainians; the Russians are the aggressors.

What you're not a fan of is aggressor-blaming. To most of the rest of us, the aggressors are precisely the ones who should take the blame.