Got into a conversation with someone today and I mentioned the Soviets liberated a lot of Nazi camps. They looked at me like I was evil and said "Well they're bombing innocent people today and accusing them of being Nazis"
I said that while I'm not a fan of modern Russia, the Azov Battalion is in fact Nazi, and Ukraine has had a Nazi problem for a while.
They didn't know who Azov are and just said "Well they're probably all gone now. They're just bombing innocent people."
I'm sick of people thinking I'm some kind of evil modern Russian oligarchy stan or crazy conspiracy theorist just because I acknowledge the fact that Nazis exist and are a big problem. If Ukraine wins, those strengthened Nazi groups that are supported by western aid and the Ukraine government are going to go full fascist.
That's the hard part. I walk on eggshells at work over this stuff, but some people trust me enough or are open minded enough that they seem to believe me when I say something like Azov is a bunch of nazis and I was reading about them long before this war started, or if I point out that Ukraine has been at war with Donbas for 8 years and it this point it doesn't seem like it ever will or should be part of Ukraine again.
I try to tone down the critique of American hegemony and just talk around it.