Political Memes

"Violence erupted on 2 May, when a 'United Ukraine' rally was attacked by pro-Russian separatists." Source

You can feel one way or another about street violence and I'm sure we can argue about whether that was what initiated the battle, but are you seriously claiming that those 43 dead were a result of "death squads"?

And as government crumbled and the nazi forces spread the russians in Ukraine had to cobble together their own defense forces. This was a time when the maidan "self-defense" force was still rather hooligan and street-fighter like. With the collapse of the government the police force evaporates and now you have a civil war.

Sounds closer to the truth of what happened, although obviously I disagree with elements of your characterization. Sounds like the goalposts have moved now, from "death squads" and pogroms into an ethnic ongoing civil war. The ethnic violence, from both sides, I'll 100% agree was happening yes. If you want to talk about whose "fault" that was, and abandon the claim of organized death squads, we can move to that instead, and I'll be happy to talk about it.

It's not as clear cut as an organized, pre-meditated attack on an unarmed civilian population like in Gaza

I thought that's exactly what it was, though? Ukrainian death squads preying on helpless Russians and so they had to "fight back" to defend themselves?

How many Russians died during the initial pogroms that they were defending themselves against when they armed themselves and started attacking Ukrainian demonstrations?

I dont understand why you're so fixated on some statistic that doesn't fit the situation at all.

I've already explained why, but I will again: I don't believe these death squads or pogroms existed. Definitely, I believe there was ethnic violence in eastern Ukraine, on both sides, but I believe that this idea that the Ukrainian government was systematically exterminating Russians is, to me, pure propaganda fantasy. Maybe I am wrong in that, although at this point I don't think so. Asking about objective and specific details of what you're saying happened is a way to start to pin it down. Then if your numbers and dates contradict some other facts that are provable, it's a pretty clear indication that it didn't happen. It's a way to sort fact from propaganda.

I'm not trying to ask for the number because I'm "fixated" on it, or because I'm planning to say it's high or low or whatever. I'm asking as a way of seeing what you're actually claiming happened. You've already moved a certain distance, from "death squads" to talking about street violence which at least one reliable source says the proximate cause of was Russian gunfire, so it's already had some of its intended effect.