B Kean
1 min readMay 5, 2024

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Chris, again, I am don't support the illegal seizure of Crimea and I never have. Since 2014, I had more late-night arguments in Russian in bars, and then at work, over the seizure of Crimea. That said, and I tell you this as someone whose lived in Russia from 1994 to 2022 and spent half of my life from 1990 to 1994 traveling back and forth from the Soviet Union then a collapsed Soviet Union, the glue of the Soviet culture was a strong one that still unites everyone over the age of 40. Even though as you rightly say Crimea was never part of Russia, although it was part of the Russian Empire, the Russians living there identify with Russia because of the internal pull of that nostalgia. I feel that nostalgia from my time living there and I know how it still messes with the heads of many Russians over the age of 40, probably 45. There are nuances that can't be overlooked but have been overlooked and disregarded by the West.

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B Kean

The past holds the answers to today’s problems. “Be curious, not judgmental,” at least until you have all the facts. Think and stop watching cable news.