most people in both belarus and ukraine did not speak ukrainian or belarusian. most ukrainians do not have cossack ancestors. the only distinguishing feature of ukrainians and belarusian is that they were under polish rule for hundreds of years. their languages are mutually intelligible with russian. until the russian invasion, the only people who spoke those languages were in the western parts of those countries. for the majority of history, they viewed each other as one nation, one people group. russia's haphazard invasion doesn't change this. you can spew shit about the tatar yoke and all that but history is history.  self determination and the question of ethnicity are interlinked. the only reason you make a big deal out of ethnicity and countries being separate states is because it sets a precedent for supporting independence movements that reduce the effectiveness of your enemies. your whole obsession with the "law" clearly demonstrates that which is just a cop out for you being a hypocrite.    i'm glad that i have a castillian's opinion on the state of catalonian and basque independence.
United States