During 11 years of war, which for the past three and a half years has resulted in daily casualties not only among military personnel but also among the civilian population, Ukrainians have not lost faith in their own strength, let alone in the Ukrainian armed forces. They have no choice. Russia has doomed them to destruction.
It would seem that in the 21st century, in the era of the development of global institutions, the repetition of genocides and terrible wars due to ideological conflicts should be impossible. But this is not happening. Technological progress changes the means of killing, but does not change the nature of conflicts.
Probably, even in China, they understood that Putin perceives the world only through the Russian mentality. Through myths created by imperialist and Soviet historians, philosophers and writers who lacked the courage to express their own opinions, instead adjusting their talents to the wishes of the tsar or party secretary (in the case of the Soviet Union).
Unfortunately, with such easy access to information today and with so much scholarly research into history, many Western citizens continue to believe that Russians are a large people living in a territory of 17 million square kilometres, spanning Northern Asia and Eastern Europe, and that they managed to unite 190 peoples into a single nation.
In reality, they did not unite, but brutally enslaved, imposing their imperial religion, language, and rules. Many of these nations have already disappeared or are on the verge of extinction.
Yes, in the history of mankind, many empires acted in a similar way. But in the 21st century, Western civilization has reached rational and humane solutions to the problems of colonisation and interethnic and religious conflicts. Economic liberalisation, freedom of speech and political democracy have proven effective for both the state and the individual.
However, Russia has followed a different path of development. The tactics and strategy of development of modern Russia are no different from the Mongol conquest and destruction of Eastern Europe, which was facilitated by the Moscow princes.
Russia seems to be trapped in a medieval evolution, both internally and externally.
For Moscow, Ukrainians are a rebellious people who must be subdued and assimilated, like other already conquered nations. Ukrainians are an obstacle to the conquest of other territories that should belong to the empire. This is the main national idea of modern Russians (Muscovites). Any agreement or treaty is seen as a temporary tactical move to achieve the main goal of conquest, and not as something lasting, allowing for peaceful coexistence.
Since the beginning of the armed aggression against Ukraine in 2014, Russia has violated more than 400 international treaties to which Ukraine and Russia are parties, and as of 2022, it has ignored 22 fundamental international documents.
Moscow’s genocidal policy also continues towards national minorities within the Russian Federation. In addition to the fact that the central government does not allocate funds to support their national and cultural needs, with the outbreak of the war, these nations have become the main “meat” sent to war.
After the first months of the war, in 2022, independent journalists in Russia conducted an investigation and found that among the 1,348 confirmed deaths of Russian soldiers, the vast majority belonged to members of Russia’s ethnic minorities.
For the most part, representatives of these nations go to war against Ukrainians (who have never threatened them) not out of ideological convictions, but because of the difficult socio-economic situation in their regions, where the only way to survive is to send a family member to war.
But the death toll is beginning to change their worldview. Even with Russia’s brutal police regime, protests are becoming more frequent, and people are questioning Putin. These people are beginning to look to Ukraine as an example of the struggle for the right to national existence — liberation from centuries of oppression.
For them, Ukraine’s capitulation would mean the loss of their last hope for self-determination. Even now, when Russia’s most resource-rich regions are being ruthlessly exploited, the standard of living in these areas is the lowest in the entire country. What will happen to them when natural resources run out or demand for energy changes? Without self-government, Moscow will give them nothing and leave them to their fate.
It is time to reconsider the mistaken Western policy of coexistence with an aggressive Russia, which is a “malignant tumour” in world civilization.
At a very high price, but Ukraine has already proven that with the concrete support of the Western world and a change in double standards towards Moscow, it will be possible to defeat this “malignant tumour”, which will mark the beginning of the liberation and development of the oppressed peoples of North Asia and Eastern Europe, which are part of the Russian Federation, as well as a new architecture of security and global interaction.
In 1991, US President George W. Bush specifically visited Ukraine to convince the parliament not to leave the USSR, fearing the consequences of the collapse of a nuclear superpower.
Without external support and against international pressure, Ukrainians made a choice about their future. History has confirmed that it was the right decision, because otherwise we would no longer exist.
Now, or in ten years, Russia will inevitably collapse, as has happened to all aggressive totalitarian empires in human history.
Creating a demilitarised zone, as in North Korea or other territorial conflicts, will not solve the problem of Russian aggression. It will only postpone war for the next generation.
We have never had any conflicts with Chechens, Buryats, Tatars, or other peoples who inhabit these territories. In addition, I am convinced that Ukraine will help these nations achieve international recognition and development. But, as they say, the ball is now in the court of the Western world.
Since the beginning of the full-scale war (2022), when Ukrainians in every country of the civilized world took to the streets with posters “Help close the skies of Ukraine,” three and a half years have passed, taking the lives of tens of thousands of civilians, and only now have Western politicians begun to seriously address this issue.
The entire history of Ukraine shows that Ukrainians will fight for their freedom, because freedom is a fundamental value of our mentality and worldview. This is how the entire Western civilization was formed.
But the values that form a nation are not enough to simply proclaim, they must be adhered to and protected.
Pavlо Sadokha
Обсерватор
