But the speaker made sure to say that he was fighting the Russians, even though he was fighting the Soviets - who included Russians as well as 99% of Ukrainians who fought during the conflict.
Why? Because the regime is waging a war on the Russians right now. So they'll say "Russians" rather than "Soviets". If they were fighting China, I'm sure they'd have phrased it in such a way to connect it to that - e.g. he fought "the communists".
But the speaker made sure to say that he was fighting the Russians, even though he was fighting the Soviets - who included Russians as well as 99% of Ukrainians who fought during the conflict.
Why? Because the regime is waging a war on the Russians right now. So they'll say "Russians" rather than "Soviets". If they were fighting China, I'm sure they'd have phrased it in such a way to connect it to that - e.g. he fought "the communists".