Russia is killing the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine and now confronting the whole world
Yuri Maznychenko 3 March 2022
For a week now, Ukraine has been living in a new world, defending its independence, fighting for its integrity and facing up the militaristic forces of the Russian occupiers, whom no one here is happy about.
Until recently, it would have been easy to confuse the photos from Bucha and Energodar with still images from the world-famous television series The Walking Dead. But a convoy of Russian equipment destroyed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the satellite city of Kyiv and a wall of thousands of people blocking the entrance to the city in Zaporizhzhya Region is the strict truth of current Ukrainian realities.
As the results of a recent opinion poll show, 98% support the activities of the AFU and another 95% support the President of Ukraine. This is even though for the past eight years Ukraine has had a fault line between those fighting for a European course and those pulling it under the "fraternal" wing of Russia. It took only a week of Russian military aggression for the people of Ukraine to rejoice at the fact that Volodymyr Zelensky has signed the country's application for membership in the European Union.
EU accession itself is a long process, but the international community has finally broken through the powerful layer of Russian propaganda and seen the real sentiment in one of the largest countries in Eastern Europe. An independent European state that a resident of Texas, Liverpool or Bordeaux could easily mistake for a part of Russia at the beginning of the century. There is even a joke that previously the USA didn't know where Ukraine was, but now they know where Obolon is. Better late than never.
The sirens across Ukraine have not stopped, and the bombing of our cities continues. Last night I saw a flash and the powerful rumble of a rocket that ended its flight near the capital's Pivdennyi railroad station. The air defence forces did their best, as the deadly shell was meant for one of the city's administrations. It is a good thing that there were no casualties, considering the evacuation of civilians to western regions.
But the more or less calm situation, where the occupation troops were never able to reach, contrasts strongly with the situation in the settlements where enemy artillery was reaching. Volnovakha, in the south of the Donetsk region, has been sending out signals for help since late February. The city, which is surrounded by Russian forces, is under regular bombardment and now looks more like ruins, while continuous fire leaves people without food, water, electricity, heat, communications, or any hope of salvation.
A humanitarian crisis is now also observed in many other cities that are being bombed by the "liberation" artillery. Video evidence of Russian missile attacks on Kharkiv's Freedom Square and destroyed houses in Borodyanka, with the Shevchenko monument as a backdrop, was shown by all the world's media. It was a hot night in Lysychansk, Izyum, and Chernihiv, where people were left homeless after intense shelling. Women with children and babies were forced to hide in shelters without any provision.
That is why humanitarian corridors are the key agenda in the current negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. And yet another test of the humanity of Putin's regime, which with a light hand is killing the Russian-speaking population that it has been feeding for years with propaganda about a bright future in friendship with Russia.
It is amazing that in a world of modern technology, videos of people suffering and cursing Putin and his war leave millions of Russian citizens indifferent, who are in this situation complicit with the war criminals in power.
Yesterday I finally sent that small cell of familiar Russian "liberals" who did not openly support the occupation of Crimea and the formation of the self-proclaimed republics of Donbas eight years ago to follow the Russian ship. I thought it was critical these days to reach out to the Russian people and show that the entire population of our country was calling for the occupation troops that came to Ukraine to return home. All I heard in response was something like, "You should have thought in 2014 when you believed NATO and started shooting at citizens in the Donbas. So get what you deserve. The conversation is over".
This shows that Russia's collective fear of an imaginary enemy, and even more so of its regime, is off the charts. Intellectuals, celebrities, and athletes all claim with one voice that they are not political experts and do not want war in their country. And they claim that it was Ukraine that brought it closer with its geopolitical vector. By its desire to join the EU and NATO. Once again: in their opinion, Ukraine is to blame for the fact that Russia is now shelling its lands. Do you feel the absurdity of these conspiracy theories?
The ninth most populous country in the world is scared to death that tomorrow there will be NATO military bases near its borders. And to prevent this from happening, people are ready to turn a blind eye to the use of weapons of mass destruction in Chuguyev and the shelling of Babyn Yar, where the Nazis massacred Jews, Roma and Ukrainians during World War II.
The discussion with the Russians seems pointless: the total unity of the Ukrainians shows that our citizens will lay down their bones and do anything to defend their land. We have nothing to lose because our ancestors are buried here and our children intend to grow up here. Meanwhile, let the average Russian, who lives by the news on TV, watch the fastest regression of their country's economy in years.
Already, the Russian Federation has received a clear civilizational response in the form of a massive package of sanctions from the world's largest corporations and international organizations: Apple, Audi, AMD, British Petroleum, BMW, Coca-Cola, Danone, DHL, Facebook, Ford, FIFA, Google, General Motors, HP, IKEA, Intel, Lenovo, Mastercard, Mercedes, Metro, Mitsubishi, NHL, Netflix, Nike, Nestle, PayPal, Pornhub, Renault, Samsung, Shell, Twitter, Toyota, UEFA, Viber, Visa, YouTube, Volkswagen and many others.
The unanimous message from the whole world about the unacceptability of Russian aggression in Ukraine is already bearing fruit and sobering up the army of zombified Russians by the day. Unofficial unemployment in Russia is already about 35%, the ruble has fallen from 80 to 200 for dollar in a week, credit and mortgage rates have risen from pre-war 8 to 29%, and all democratic countries have closed airspace to Russian planes.
After the UN General Assembly voted in a resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and demanding the withdrawal of occupying forces from our country within internationally recognized borders, Russia was left all alone against the world. Although no, the totalitarian regimes of Belarus, North Korea, Syria, and Eritrea also voted against this decision. Even the traditionally loyal to Russia authorities of China, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Vietnam preferred to refrain from the historical disgrace and left the Russian dictator alone.
Even the USSR had the support of the Axis countries - Germany, Italy and Japan - when it attacked Finland in 1939, and allied with Britain and the United States when it fought the war with Germany. It seems that Vladimir Putin not only deceived the population of his country but also believed himself to be his own chosen and permissive one. Well, Russia has always been a country of "palace coups”. Putin's loyalist entourage is unlikely to look on in silence as their fortunes thaw like spring snow. That is why we should suppose that the timer has already been started, and 2022 will be the last year of Putin's long presidential biography.
It was not until the end of the first week of the war that we were finally contacted by people we know well from Belarus. "What to say about Belarus? In the elections, our Belarusians shot their own. We're all shocked here, no one wants war. People started to receive summonses, young guys are mobilized and sent to an unknown destination. They don't even know they're going to Ukraine.
No one wants to go to war. Many people try to flee the country, they are caught on the Polish border, and for evading military service they are charged with high treason and sentenced to 15 years in prison", - the Belarusians said. They confirmed the fact of the complicity of the Belarusian authorities in the war of Russia against Ukraine: "A lot of Russian military equipment goes through us on the territory of Ukraine”. As you understand, the names are not to be disclosed to ensure the safety of their stay on the territory of Belarus.
Nor do the captured Russian soldiers want to fight. The AFU allows the young guys who surrendered to contact their relatives and tell the truth about what is happening. Having supposedly left for military exercises, they suddenly found themselves on the territory of another country. At the same time, they never had to meet the so-called "Banderovtsy" and "Drug addicts" from whom the Russian-speaking population suffers, and the Ukrainian military, according to them, treats them better than their own.
From February 24 to March 3, Russia has already lost more than 9,000 (!) people in Putin's military gamble in Ukraine. Many did not even realize where they had been sent and were killed after illegally crossing the Ukrainian border. Those who were luckier are openly urging their fellow citizens not to go to Ukraine with weapons. By the way, Russian troop losses in a week of the war in Ukraine exceed their total losses in the two Chechen war campaigns.
Now comes the time when years of imprisonment for treason is the optimal solution for Russians who do not want to go to war. After all, it is better to receive an amnesty after the fall of a criminal regime than to die in a foreign land and not even leave behind a funeral letter for their parents. Or, like the Ukrainians in 2013, finally to go to the barricades.