Proximity is not necessarily a proxy for material understanding, and anti-Russian propaganda is strongest in countries bordering it, for good reason. If there has been a genocide happening in Ukraine, it's been on the behalf of the fascist Ukrainian government attempting to eradicate Russian speakers and people with Russian heritage, in some twisted attempt at Ukrainian ethnonationalism. If Ukraine is peaceful, why were they shelling Donbas for nearly a decade, terrorizing the people and killing innocent men, women, and children? Why couldn't they uphold their side of the ceasefire agreements while Russia did and called on all other parties to as well? But yeah, I guess I'm just a dumb brainwashed tankie who reads too much and thinks too much and actually wants to understand the material conditions and geopolitical reality of the world.