I never implied that the truth was in the middle. Thats you putting words into my mouth.

I will say it differently: currently, specifically on Reddit, you can’t criticize Ukraine without being harassed or accused of being a Russian bot/supporter (that’s thread is a surprising exception). And I think it’s wrong because that’s against the same principles we are allegedly fighting for there (which is of course a childish take).

For example, I generally stand with the Palestinians but we should be able to criticize them without being called Zionists, right?

I agree with your 1st question 100%.

The 2nd question…. most likely yes they did. But I can’t tell for sure whether those crimes were outside of some kinda “norm” of how to conduct war vs I am told they were because I am watching Western news.

But I am also not saying “that can’t be! Russians would never do such a thing”. Knowing that all parties are trying to create some kinda narrative, I don’t know what’s REALLY happening, beyond the obvious shit that Russia attacked and some civilians definitely suffered. Was it more than “normal” rate of suffering? I don’t know those nuances.