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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Explain this to me like I am five.

Donbas is Russian speaking area.

Zelensky had to learn Ukrainian language after he became president.

Ukraine is traditionally under russian control.  Ukraine has not no sustained period of independence for hundreds of years.

Why do we need to figure for Donbas region?[/quote]

For the average American, it's a difficult thing to understand.  Their relationship is complicated.

When you say "under Russian control" there really is little frame of reference to compare Ukraine against in terms of analogies within US History.  It technically goes back to the history of the Vikings and land of Rus, during the time Moscow was under the rule of the Mongols, so technically Ukrainians are the original Kievan Rus.  But that's probably going too far back.

The current modern conflict between Russia and Ukraine goes back to the Stalin era.  Stalin tried to erase the culture of the various ethnic groups that made up the USSR, making it compulsory to learn Russian.  In some places the ethnic purges were more successful than in others, but the memories of the millions killed in the late 30's through WWII were passed down by families to their children and grandchildren.  (Think Dr. Zhivago..)

WWII and until the breakup of the USSR, Ukrainians largely adapted and were, in fact, one of the most trusted ethnic groups in Russia.  So trusted, that Ukrainians were the trusted with nuclear weaponry.
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/ukraine-and-soviet-nuclear-history

Ukraine, as a Soviet Republic, also built much of the Soviet navy, a good deal of tanks, strategic rocket components, aircraft, etc. for the Soviet Union's war machine.

However, for everything Ukraine did for the USSR, this does not mean that the Ukrainians were treated as complete equals.

"A few days after the deadly explosion on the 4th unit in Chernobyl nuclear power plant, people rallied to celebrate the International Workers' Day in Kiev, Ukraine, on May 1, 1986. Nobody cancelled the May Day parade in Kiev when thousands of people walked in columns along the streets, with songs, flowers and Soviet leaders portraits, covered with invisible clouds of fatal radiation."
https://time.com/4313139/post-chernobyl-parade/
[img]https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/may-1-1986-parade-kiev.jpg[/img]

It is also true that Zelensky had to learn Ukrainian.   In fact he even once partied with one of the chief Russian propagandists (the Russian equivalent to Tucker on Fox News).
[twitter]https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1581392122863030272?lang=en[/twitter]

To understand why Zelensky speaks Russian is more difficult to explain without a huge essay about the history of that region, but the short answer is just because someone speaks French or Spanish doesn't mean they are French or Spanish.  (You probably haven't watched is his comedy series when he was an actor.  Especially the series as a school teacher elected to be President of Ukraine.. and you need to understand the first invasion of Ukraine in 2014.. and the economic factors and industry between Eastern Ukraine and Russia..)

But I think the bottom line is that Russia invaded a sovereign foreign country without provocation.  The majority of Ukrainians wanted to be part of Europe, not the former USSR.  The Russians living in Donbas and Crimea were free to travel to Russia whenever they wanted.  But I think that was the real problem.  The Russian Government didn't want Western ideas spreading in Russia.  It's as simple as that.[/quote]

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