I’m following imperialism as it was first analyzed by John A. Hobson as it was arising in its modern form, then correctly carried forward and codified by Lenin, then advanced to the modern day by people like Nkrumah and Cheng Enfu. Imperialism is characterized by the following:

-The presence of monopolies which play a decisive role in economic life.

-The merging of bank capital with industrial capital into finance capital controlled by a financial oligarchy.

-The export of capital as distinguished from the simple export of commodities.

-The formation of international monopolist capitalist associations (cartels) and multinational corporations.

-The domination and exploitation of other countries by militaristic imperialist powers, now through neocolonialism.

-The territorial division of the whole world among the biggest capitalist powers.

These are the mechanisms by which imperialism functions today, and they do not apply to Russia. Russia is largely a commodity exporter, with a paltry sum of finance capital, and no colonies nor neocolonies. Russia is not economically exploiting the global south, either. It is not colonial, nor neocolonial, nor imperialist.

Instead, Russia is working against the western powers that do fit this definition. It's undermining NATO, the IMF, the Petrodollar, all means by which the global south is super-exploited by the global north.

Downvoted for asking an open question. I'm sensing extremism is lurking... XD

For that you'd need to recognize the people in donbas as humans.

As long as you don't, you won't understand.

When iran fights against genocide in palestine, when russia fights against genocide in donbas, the most important parallel between those two is that the burgerlanders' lackeys are the genociders.

Right, so, in the case of the proxy war between the West (helmed by the US) and Russia, it also makes sense that we want the US to lose in Ukraine. Not because in that case the US fired the first shot and crossed the border, but be sure the conflict is fundamentally predicated on US hegemony and the fight against it. Ukraine is only still at war because the West is pumping billions of support into it. And the West only does that to support its own interests. If Ukraine had lost after their 3rd complete military loss, instead of more and more tanks, planes, missiles, artillery, training, mercenaries, and logistics being pumped in to prolong the conflict, there would have been far more peace and far less destruction. Ukraine needs to lose for the US to lose.