That comes after very in-depth reading. What got me that far to even trust their judgement that this kind of research would be worth my time was the fact that they were consistently right about takes on the USSR that seemed ludicrous. Just that they seemed to really know their stuff about USSR history especially the Stalin era. So I started reading

Michael Parenti - Blackshirts and Reds

a rather short book about anticommunism in the west. I already had very left views but what stuck with me was that I required a revolution to be "perfect", the outcome sure and everyone had to be happy, an unrealistic standard considering the kind of fundamental change I envisioned. Or in Parenti's words:

The pure socialists’ ideological anticipations remain untainted by existing practice. They do not explain how the manifold functions of a revolutionary society would be organized, how external attack and internal sabotage would be thwarted, how bureaucracy would be avoided, scarce resources allocated, policy differences settled, priorities set, and production and distribution conducted. Instead, they offer vague statements about how the workers themselves will directly own and control the means of production and will arrive at their own solutions through creative struggle. No surprise then that the pure socialists support every revolution except the ones that succeed.

Once I had conceded my previous "anti-tankie" views and thought of the USSR not as a failed revolution that started of well-intentioned but was led astray by power hungry dictators, but as a successful revolution that had to endure a constant onslaught, physical as well as political, I was "through the looking glass" so to speak.

Then the genocide in Gaza happened and I kind of looked at the countries we were allied with, who were consistently some of the worst offenders of human rights. The whole supporting violent dictatorships in former colonies wasn't news to me, but when put into perspective I had a "Damn we really are the baddies aren't we" moment.

I realise that this doesn't answer your question on Ukraine and the Uighurs but that's because I don't have the time right now to get into a debate on that, and the original question was on what changed my mind about it which was less the actual research I then put into, but the heavy-lifting on even questioning the western narrative was done before that.

To answer your question in a nutshell however: The reason the situation in Ukraine deteriorated this far, to the point that the ethnic russians in Ukraine had to even put up "self-defense" forces was meddling of western capitalist forces. The article that I keep referencing on that is ( CW for pictures of dead bodies and gruesome descriptions of fascist violence):

https://covertactionmagazine.com/2022/07/29/what-the-u-s-government-and-the-new-york-times-have-quietly-agreed-not-to-tell-you-about-ukraine/

The open fascism in the paramilitary groups that later got put under the umbrella of the Ukrainian army was an open question mark for me, this article gives a very detailed answer to that. The details in that report post 2014 are corroborated in the UN reports as well:

https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents-listing?field_geolocation_target_id%5B1136%5D=1136&field_content_category_target_id%5B180%5D=180&field_content_category_target_id%5B182%5D=182&field_entity_target_id%5B1349%5D=1349&field_entity_target_id%5B1350%5D=1350&sort_bef_combine=field_published_date_value_DESC

As for the so-called "genocide" of Uighurs in China, the "evidence" is very very circumstantial especially considering the scale alleged. Millions of people are alleged to be held in internment at some point, a scale that should be visible from space. I mean manhattan has a population of 1.7 million, where are all these people interned?? As an example of one of the oddities about the whole allegations. The only countries that seem to care are outspoken anti-communist countries, with the whole muslim world not considering the crackdown on religious extremism in Xinjiang a genocide. All the articles I kept getting linked were "oh how terrible the situation there is, what an evil evil government" with no one seemingly caring about the actual people. It's all just treated as an abstract talking point. And the only references boiling down to two reports by Adrian Zenz

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02634937.2018.1507997

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02634937.2021.1946483

a person with some questionable viewpoints

https://books.google.de/books?id=lRtSQB3HHJcC&printsec=frontcover&hl=fr&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

All the stuff around it seems to be pushed by Washington based anti-communist thinktanks trying to establish an "east turkestan". The whole movement is heavily US-financed. See here for more info:

https://hexbear.net/post/2361

That's what changed my mind about it all anyway, but like I said I probably will not be able to go into more depth about this, as I have spent too much time on this already.

Ukraine... Russia isn't socialist anymore you know? Gorbachev ended that back in 1991 with the help of his western allies, against the wishes of the population, over 90% of which voted for the USSR to remain.

Still, this current war started in 2014 with the CIA-backed fascist coup and the subsequent killing of ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine, like in Donbas and Crimea, for resisting the coup gov.

This was the results of the 2010 elections for example.

Eastern Ukrainians don't support the current gov, and even welcomed the Russian army as liberators in 2022.

And as for China, the US and its allies are the only ones accusing them of mishandling the ETIM in Xinjiang. Muslim countries and the Global South approve of China's policies.

35+ mostly muslim UN states have approved of how China handled this after sending delegates and diplomats to Xinjiang:

...separatism and religious extremism has caused enormous damage to people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, which has seriously infringed upon human rights, including right to life, health and development. Faced with the grave challenge of terrorism and extremism, China has undertaken a series of counter-terrorism and deradicalization measures in Xinjiang, including setting up vocational education and training centers. Now safety and security has returned to Xinjiang and the fundamental human rights of people of all ethnic groups there are safeguarded. The past three consecutive years has seen not a single terrorist attack in Xinjiang and people there enjoy a stronger sense of happiness, fulfillment and security. We note with appreciation that human rights are respected and protected in China in the process of counter-terrorism and deradicalization.

We appreciate China’s commitment to openness and transparency. China has invited a number of diplomats, international organizations officials and journalist to Xinjiang to witness the progress of the human rights cause and the outcomes of counter-terrorism and deradicalization there. What they saw and heard in Xinjiang completely contradicted what was reported in the media. We call on relevant countries to refrain from employing unfounded charges against China based on unconfirmed information before they visit Xinjiang.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation approve of China's treatment of its Muslim population.

20. Welcomes the outcomes of the visit conducted by the General Secretariat's delegation upon invitation from the People's Republic of China; commends the efforts of the People's Republic of China in providing care to its Muslim citizens; and looks forward to further cooperation between the OIC and the People's Republic of China.

Unlike other countries, China has mostly responded to ETIM's attacks by building vocational training centers and integrating the region better into the rest of China's economy, that is to say they are tackling the material reasons for why someone would have to resort to violence in the first place. And it has been successful, hence the Global South countries approving of it.

You can visit Xinjiang and see it for yourself btw since covid restrictions are gone now, and there's alot of yt videos doing just that.

Right? I'm sitting here like "this has to be satire... right? But it's just absurd enough not to be..."

I bet you dont read many history books.