Are soldiers in the Russian army not Russians? Do you consider members of your country's army to be fellow citizens of your country? Or do you think of them as different?
A more honest reframing would be VK allowing/encouraging people to say "Death to America" and death threats against American soldiers, due to illegal invasions in Afghanistan/Iraq/Libya/Syria/etc.
How do you think Western governments would respond to that, if it became a big deal?
And, no, violent rhetoric against an invading national army is not equivalent to violent rhetoric against an ethnicity. The idea is offensive.
Logically, you are correct.
In reality, people aren't so logical. They see Russia, they see red. There has been a massive explosion of outright russophobia across the West since the war started.
What OP said is that violent rhetoric against an ethnicity (Russians) is allowed, which is not true.
You are of course aware that russophobia against ethnic Russians was the pretense by which Russia invaded Ukraine the first time. It was reprehensible then to conflate ethnic violence with nationalistic expansionist rationalizations, and it is reprehensible now.
> What OP said is that violent rhetoric against an ethnicity (Russians) is allowed, which is not true.
No, that's NOT what I said. And you should know this, as I already told you at least once: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30755880
What I actually said:
> Before we all pile on Russia, if you aren't aware of the rule change that FB made to allow violent statements against Russians (but not against any other group), you should learn about that.
I consider members of the Russian military (who, by the way, are mostly there by force, not free choice) to still be Russians. Unless you want to turn my statement into a strawman that you can easily knock down, then you should be making the argument that members of the Russian military aren't Russians.
This is sophistry and a category error; and even were it arguable, it is literally incorrect. The Russian army is comprised of other ethnicities and nationalities as well. https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-701018
Advocating violence against an invading army: ethical. Advocating violence against members of an ethnicity: reprehensible. Conflating the two, so that people might believe that one is the same as the other: confused at best, if not evil. Which is what you are attempting to do, here.
I keep "repeating variations of this" because it is exactly what you wrote. You conflated "Russians" with the "Russian army". When called out on it, you doubled down "Well, Russian soldiers are technically Russians so...." You did that. No one else.