Russian-speaking Ukrainians are among the main victims of Vladimir Putin’s invasion, and many have served in the Ukrainian army. The call to “decolonize” Ukraine by banishing Russian ignores this, imposing a vision of narrow cultural homogeneity.

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, continues to insist that without full recognition of the rights of Russians and Russian-speakers in Ukraine, no peace is possible. “Our goal was, and remains, to protect the Russian people who have lived on this land for centuries,” he told an interviewer on August 19. Meanwhile, Russia bombs the very cities where most of these Russian-speakers live, laying waste to their homes and scattering their families. It’s protection by annihilation.

Few doubt the imperial nature of Russia’s aggression. Yet some i

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