DO RUSSIANS SUPPORT THE UKRAINE WAR?
In 1992, Ukraine signed the Lisbon Protocol, volunteering to give up its nuclear arsenal, obtaining promises from Russia that it would never face aggression, or worse, invasion. As a former member of the Soviet Union, Ukraine was young and trying to find their place in the world. While it took some time, by 2001, all nuclear weapons had been transferred to Russia and their silos deactivated.
Around that same time, Vladimir Putin was serving as an advisor to the mayor of St. Petersburg, Anatoly Sobchak. He was also the head of the Committee for Foreign Economic Relations (CFER). This was a lot of power over the money that was rushing into Russia after the end of the soviet Union. There are many other whispers on the internet about Vladimir Putin and his history as a KGB agent, knowing where the bodies are buried, and while I was not able to corroborate much of anything, you don’t get to his level of power without burying a few of your own.
But, let’s jump ahead to February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, violating the agreement that they’d made with Ukraine two decades ago. What’s worse, is to this day, there really is no concrete reason as to why Russia has invaded Ukraine. They claim it’s to root out radical extremism, and to be honest, there is some of that in Ukraine. But there’s also some of that in Russia, and Germany, and the UK and the United States, etc. Some people say it’s about oil, or money, people on youtube theorise that Putin wants a new Russian Empire, or to have his name in history. Some people have even tried to analyse the way he thinks, that it’s to do with building a buffer between the West and Russia, to protect it.
To be honest, whatever the reasoning behind it, doesn’t really matter in the long run. Why you may ask? Because it’s a bunch of hogwash. Let’s take a look at the bigger picture of what is going on here. Vladimir Putin is, for all intents and purposes, a dictator. I know, in polite company, Russia has elections, and the people keep him in power. But let’s call a spade a spade, those elections aren’t fair, they aren’t honest and they aren’t real. We saw what happened in the United States with the election the last go around, which is still playing out in the courts to this very day. Vladimir Putin is the only one making decisions in Moscow.
This is where things get really ugly, because there was no reason to invade Ukraine, nothing viable. Let’s look at the biggest reason, they were seeking entry into NATO. This could have put NATO troops right on the border with Russia, but would it? Has NATO been that aggressive recently? Or ever? No, they haven’t. People say, well it could have put nuclear weapons back into Ukraine, just those controlled by the United States or another NATO member. No, it couldn’t, Ukraine would still abide by the Lisbon protocol and kept nuclear weapons out.
What we have here is a bucket of excuses that were used to justify mayhem and carnage. Even if there was a possibility of troops on the border, does that justify the deaths of tens of thousands of people? Does that justify firing missiles into civilian occupied cities? No, it doesn’t, nothing does. But, there’s an important thing we are missing, our western minds tell us, there must be a reason, a justification for all of this. The harsh truth is, there isn’t a reason for it, it’s because Vladimir Putin wants it.
But why? That is the million dollar question and one that I don’t have a full answer to. But here are some things to think about, things that haven’t been spoken about much. The first is the troops that Russia has been using in Ukraine. Russia, like many other parts of the world, uses their military differently than the west, specifically the United States. During an emergency, we might see the military deployed inside the US, but that’s not how Russia does it. Their military is part of their everyday life, with bases in every major (and many minor) cities. Their military patrol streets and protect buildings. They are deployed for riots and protests, with their automatic weapons. The closer you get to Moscow, the more loyal the troops.
Russia is big, very big, and it has people from many different ethnicities. These people are so different, they barely recognize each other as countrymen. What’s worse, the powers that be don’t recognize these people are equals either. Suffice it to say, the troops that are fighting and dying in Ukraine, are not those considered loyal to Putin. They are not from regions that would stay loyal should there be an attempt at a revolution. No, these men are being sent to die simply because their loyalty is not certain.
What’s more, he’s bleeding his adversaries, with everyone sending money and support to Ukraine. He doesn’t care what the cost is to Russia. But he’s getting to see how Western hardware works, while getting rid of troops that might have stood against him. He’s making the west spend money that could go to other things, better things than war, than bloodshed. Yes, it still costs him too, but don’t for a minute think he isn’t bleeding the areas of Ukraine that he controls dry every second of every day.
But, why Ukraine? Who knows, and truthfully, who cares. The fact of the matter is that Vladimir Putin has his own reasons, and they affect the lives of millions of people. He decided that he wanted Crimea, and he took it, with no one doing anything about it. He invaded Georgia and there was nothing but hand wringing from the rest of the world. Now, he’s set his brutal, violent sites on Ukraine, and he won’t stop until he gets what he wants.
When it comes to politics, memories are short. Ukraine thought they were securing their freedom when they gave up their nuclear arsenal. But when a power hungry, brutal dictator wants what you have, the only way to try and stop him is to fight.
