I'm not sure how to write this without it sounding like ragebait or a fed post.
But why do most fellow Marxists critically support Russia today?
I can understand having seen Russia as a potential temporary ally or a necessary power that can stand against US / NATO hegemony over the globe. In short I can understand it from a strategic standpoint.
But what about morals of this?
To explain I've seen seen Russia as a necessary potential ally in the past too. But that has changed with the Ukraine war and concurrent events in Russia.
The way I see it, even with a CIA coup, a full scale invasion of a country still isn't justified. It's bordering on insanity in my mind to start such a war. The way the war and conscription is handled in Russia is also highly critiquable. The way people who fall from grace, also "fall out of windows" too.
The other major event that made me doubt Putin more was part of the leaks that happened with Navalny's death. Specifically the revelation of how Putin spend hundreds of millions not just on a palace like so many corrupt leaders and dictators do, but essentially what amounts to an own private town.
This is what lead me to believe that Putin devolved into insanity and paranoia from what he used to be, a calculated sensible dictator.
With all this in mind, why should we offer critical support to Russia instead of Ukraine?
Yes you can argue that Ukraine has been taken over via a pro-western coup regime, but they're still not the aggressors in the war.
I find it morally questionable to support an aggressor in such a clear scenario. And purely strategically speaking with how Russia is bogged down in Ukraine, I find their military capabilities not great either for any conflict with NATO.
Do any of you have any moral reasoning to critically support Russia? Or do you support it out of strategic reasons despite moral objections?
This is a bad post and all, but take this moment to both consider what "critical support" means and in which contexts you should use it.
It depends on your broader strategical goals. If you are a Venezuelan or Haitian communist/socdem for example, critical support for Russia means taking some pressure off of your back while gaining a potential ally. If you support Chinese Socialism, the war also depletes NATO before it can go against China.
If there were conditions for a revolution in Ukraine when the war broke out, it might make sense for those revolutionaries to align with either or neither army tactically for the broader strategical goal.
Morals are secondary, as they define your strategy, not your tactics.
Yes, Marxist dont act on good morals, they analyse which acts bring forth the rising class consciousness and class antagonism amongst the working class and act accordingly. "Good Morals" is just a byproduct of that process, as is oxygen to photosynthesis.