It seems your argument that Ukraine is corrupt and poor creates a false equivalence with Russia. It seems to me that Russia under Putin is far, far worse.
I'm obviously not saying it's OK to invade a country just because it's corrupt, and that's obviously not the reason. I'm only talking about the absurd apotheosis of the corrupt Zelensky and the crazy idea that Ukraine is some kind of democratic paradise.
Source? You keep repeating that, but Transparency International ranked Ukraine above Russia https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2021
You are correct on the poverty numbers if the peer group is “rest of Europe”, not “rest of USSR alumni”. Is it a reasonable peer group?
By the way here's an article about Zelensky written 2 weeks ago, so about 1 week before his apotheosis: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/21/opinion/ukraine-russia-ze...
About corruption being worse, that's mostly anecdotal. I have friends running parts of, or working for major corporations in Russia and Ukraine. But also, look at the amazing wealth of natural resources in Ukraine and compare it to the GDP.
Having hope & democracy & people getting better is an existential threat to a nearby country that rules via corruption & force. Ukraine has improved slowly, moved up in the ranks of corrupt countries, passed Russia (now #122 vs Russia' #136 in the Corruption Perception Index, https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2021 ). The model of people being free to speak up against the bad is a primary threat, and happening too close to Russia for them to bear it.
As FP put in the Dec 2021 subheading,
> The country’s democratization and ongoing efforts to fight entrenched graft and cronyism are a threat to Putin’s model of governance.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/12/17/ukraine-russia-corrupti...
I think Putin and friends are more worried about Putin and friends being overthrown. The Russian national security would be fine. Putin on the other hand has killed so many people that he can't allow a democratic takeover without going to jail.
Zelenskyy is corrupt as they get. Don't buy the SM propaganda.
