[CCIP]

I realize the other side, of course, but my primary distinction has always been between the aims of Germany and the USSR. The USSR conquered, but it was neither their aim nor the factual reality to institute genocide, just political conformity. On the other hand, it was attacked by Germany and had to defend itself from a war of annihilation. Anything going on at the periphery at the time of the war is, in my mind, national self-preservation first, and imperialism only second (a major second, but a second nonetheless).