I think it’s important to understand that Marxist-Leninists should be supporting the people of both countries, rather than picking one of two capitalist states to back. I understand that Russia has its excuses for doing this, and the Ukraine government has its excuses for what it has done, but it’s important to remember that they are both capitalist countries in the age of imperialism; what they are really after is power. Please feel free to correct me if you believe I got anything wrong.
I mean you’re not really wrong. At the end of the day, both Russia and Ukraine are reactionary states, ruled by people who profited off the period of chaos after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Russia has an interest in crushing fascists in Ukraine right now, as revenge for 2014, but this does not magically turn them into a progressive force. Putin is really just angry Yeltsin, if he lived long enough to realize he was played for a fool, and the US is only happy if Russia bows down before them.
Ukraine is a bunch of oligarchs in a trench coat, allying with Nazis, because they aided in their (proper) takeover in 2014. But now they can’t back out, because, you know, Nazis are in the military. Zelenskyy is a comedian-oligarch who got elected by claiming to be the same person as the version of himself that he played on TV.
The people of both countries are trapped in a game they largely do not want to play, but unfortunately it’s not something they can change in an instant. A proletarian revolution isn’t organized overnight.