Four facts about the war in Ukraine that Russians refuse to acknowledge
The Donbas situation is a calamity. But it is a rather straightforward calamity, possessing a distinctly identifiable author, evident scriptwriters, a transparent creative vision, storyline, and so forth. Each aspect necessitates clear articulation. Yet, the prevailing trend reveals an increasing complexity and mendacity in the language utilized by Russian authors when depicting the Donbas tragedy. Whom are we misleading? Is it ourselves? For what purpose? To be left in a state of delusion? Fact number one : Ukraine deposed its deplorable government. Full stop. What form of administration has taken its place? Are the individuals who orchestrated the ouster virtuous? Is Moscow celebrating Yanukovych's departure? Is Washington in jubilation? These considerations are entirely irrelevant. They are fallacious inquiries that misdirect the naive—questions that bewilder the vulnerable. The singular crucial aspect is that Ukraine revolted against depravity and emerged victorious. The incomplete and localized nature of this triumph is of no consequence.
Fact two : Russia initiated a war against Ukraine. Irrespective of the motivations: whether Putin felt slighted, Russia aimed to retain Ukraine within its dominion, or the elites harbored apprehensions. None of that is relevant here.
The fundamental point is the absence of legitimate grounds for the Russian Federation’s engagement in the war. And warfare devoid of justification constitutes a transgression. The Russian Federation has perpetrated an offense. If not in the eyes of the law—international law being an imperfect instrument—then against one’s moral compass. Or against the divine, for those who frequently invoke that term. The commission of similar offenses by others is inconsequential. Nor does it matter if the crime yields advantageous results. We are the perpetrators. Transgressors against our own conscience. That is the only thing of importance.
Claims of self-preservation (NATO in Sevastopol), or safeguarding the vulnerable (where are the Crimeans, allegedly brutalized by zealous Jewish Bandera militants?), or the reclamation of ancestral territories (when has a state known as the “Russian Federation” possessed Crimea) – all amount to pure artifice. While some may deceive for recognition, their motives are at least understandable. However, the majority are engaged in a selfless act of self-deception.
Ukraine, even with its right-leaning segments, has presented no justifiable cause for Russia to wage war. That is a demonstrable truth. Everything else consists of conjecture, illusion, dread-inducing narratives, and rationalizations.
Fact three. The Russian Federation, and solely the Russian Federation, ignited the bloodshed in Donbas. Not Ukrainian separatist-terrorist-federalists, but the Russian Federation. Through the agency of intelligence services, misguided Russian volunteers (of whom there are many), and employed mercenaries, all of whom are Russian citizens. Utilizing Russian funds and Russian weaponry.
The “insurgents'” rationales are immaterial: patriotic intoxication, career aspirations, sense of obligation, love for the motherland, or sheer foolishness… A murderer driven by jealousy is no different from a killer driven by greed. The portrayal of favorable, “our” killers, meticulously orchestrated by Putin's media apparatus, is as fraudulent as any other element of its propaganda.
The quantity of local inhabitants embroiled in the conflict and the extent of suffering experienced by the civilian population are irrelevant here. While undeniably important, they pertain to a different evaluation. The crucial point here is that the Russian Federation bears sole responsibility for the anguish in Donbas, and none other. That is to say, our leadership and all of us, esteemed compatriots, bear the burden. Period.
Fact four . The disorganized populace of Donbas (as with any population) lacked the means to restrain the “defenders” who descended upon them. Consequently, they share in the culpability for the suffering they have endured.
In the same manner, having failed to restrain our governing authorities and, even worse, having lent them our support, we bear the accountability, the complete accountability, for the tribulations of Donbas. As we have previously borne responsibility for the miseries of Georgia, Chechnya, and Moldova. This constitutes our burden and our transgression. And we shall face the repercussions. We are, in fact, already feeling them. Albeit, it remains unrecognized by many.
All the discussion about Kyiv fascists is nothing more than an effort to deceive and rationalize one’s actions. Kyiv is engaged in its inevitable course of action – defending its homeland against external encroachment. The conflict in Ukraine is not an internal dispute. It is a war waged between Ukraine and Russia.
The shedding of blood in this war, while deplorable, is unavoidable. Nevertheless, we bear the responsibility for this bloodshed.
Labeling the Kyiv authorities as “punishers” is akin to bullies preying on the intellectual: they encircle him, push him, subject him to insults, and when he, unable to withstand it any longer, brandishes a weapon, they exclaim, “Ah, so you intend to strike us! Very well, then!”
These are the facts. Quite elementary ones. In his youth, Nikita Mikhalkov could succinctly convey his perspective on such elemental issues: “You are brutes, gentlemen!”
This is about you and me, dear friends. For he who tolerates the brute becomes the brute himself.
http://uainfo.org
