Analysts say several hundred citizens of former Soviet republics have fled to Ukraine to avoid persecution at home, while others have joined Ukraine's armed forces to help defend the country against the Russian invasion.
"By attacking Ukraine, Russia has shattered the notion that the countries that were formed after the split of the Soviet Union are independent," Temur Umarov, an analyst at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin.
While Russian President Vladimir Putin still has cautious support from a number of post-Soviet leaders, thousands of natives of former Soviet states are fighting on the side of Kyiv.
"People perceive this war as not just Russia's war against Ukraine," explained Umarov, “but as Russia's war against all the countries that used to be colonies of Russia or part of the Soviet Union.” Some people from former Soviet bloc countries wound up in Ukraine in late 2021 when the situation on the border began to escalate; others had already fled to Ukraine to avoid persecution in their home countries. And many of those emigres sided with Kyiv after the full-scale invasion.
"Putin considers Belarusian independence a historical mistake as well," explained Aliaksandr Klaskouski, a political observer and journalist. “The Belarusians and Ukrainians have the same platform here - opposition to the 'empire'.”
Belarusians who oppose President Aleksandr Lukashenko's regime hope Ukraine's victory "will open a window of opportunities for democratic changes in Belarus,".
The idea of overthrowing Lukashenko by force is becoming increasingly popular inside and outside the country, Klaskouski claims. "More and more often they say that, if Ukraine wins, this regiment may march on Minsk as well,". An emotional decision or saving a life
Several million migrant workers from Central Asia live in Russia. Following the outbreak of war, Russian authorities began offering them the option to join the army in exchange for a Russian passport or a high wage.
Carnegie analyst Umarov said many of those Central Asian immigrants, under pressure from Russian authorities, were sent to fight in Ukraine.
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