I trace my heritage to 4 Ukrainian grandparents, 2 who spoke Russian and 2 who spoke Ukrainian. I find Putin's references to Ukraine (country, culture, church, language etc) as somehow illegitimate (or inferior to Russian) to be particularly obnoxious. as an embodiment of a Ukrainian co-existence of cultures that which Putin seeks to rend asunder, I am sickened beyond remedy. i am left to prayer
Russia is not a failed capitalistic society girded by the rule of law. It's a hodge podge of nascent capitalistic society at the street level with an umbrella mobster structure called the oligarchs, what in America 129 years ago were called the Robber Barons. Think Chicago during the 1920s for the current corruption with no Elliot Ness fighting it. The remnant of the Russian heirarchy serves as it's sovereign entity.
The essay portends the neo-Communists will save Russia, but that's what the Mensheviks claimed they would do different from the czars, and the Bolsheviks said they would do different than the Mensheviks.
Yes, the American republic has its challenges with free market corruption, but 180 years I'd socialism has shown it always and quickly falls into a perpetual Dictatorship that never withers.
Yes, war is always hell, regardless of the side you are fighting for. However to claim that "This war is unjust and criminal on both sides," you need to address the facts that (1) the war is occurring in Ukraine, not in Russia, (2) Russians have moved troops and equipment, bombs and missiles, and land mines INTO Ukraine, and THROUGHOUT Ukraine, (3) Ukrainians are defending Ukrainian cities, towns, and villages, (4) no one needs to defend Russian cities, towns, and villages, because no one is attacking them. If you wish to dispute these facts, I am all ears, but if you do not dispute them, please note that they belie your statement regarding "both sides."
Hard to take any of this writing as anything but parody when the first paragraph reads - "This war is unjust and criminal on both sides."
Perhaps - now stay with me here for a sec.... if the Russian forces never stepped foot into Ukraine, provoked the violence in Eastern Ukraine, Russia would still be on its way towards Kleptocracy. It doesn't take Marxism to respect sovereign borders, only leaders who aren't complete villains.
But hey Substack has a place for demented communists all the same. Keep writing your garbage - never stop.
Uhh, again! Lost in USSR dream leftist is trying to gaslight with anti-capitalist and pseudo-pacifistic rant while pedaling the same old narrative - you cannot live without Russia. Guess what, we can.
The Communists murdered and enslaved millions of their own citizens and you want to bring that back? That sounds more evil that what Putin is doing right now. Putin was wrong to invade Ukraine. But using that as an excuse to bring back a corrupt, evil system doesn't seem to be a good solution.
Russia didn't start this war, it was Ukraine that took up arms against Donbass, when the attack stalled, NATO came to their aid. Why is NATO involved in a regional conflict? I have been protesting Canada's participation for years, NATO turned this into a global crisis. They always claimed it was a war against Russia, but we saw what happened when Russia finally entered the conflict. No one would deal with Russia honestly, that's my view from Canada.
For the Communists: Free Market Capitalism is not the problem. However, Corrupt Corporate Capitalism IS a HUGE problem in America and in many Democratic countries. So that is some truth in the fact that Capitalism can create huge problems if not properly controlled. OTOH Communism also created problems and caused millions of innocent people to die in every country it has been tried. NO ideology is perfect. That's for sure. So why not try to take the best parts of both and create a system that works for the majority and also takes care of those at the bottom? Capitalism has the ability to create far more wealth than Communism or Socialism. But that also creates other issues. Like too much money, power and control in the hands of a few. To those familiar with Communism in practice this should sound very familiar. Because the exact same situation occurs in that system. The leaders say that they are going to help the poor. But those leaders usually live very well while the masses suffer. Communism is a scam. It preys on the ignorant, indoctrinated poor and they end up suffering the worst in the end.
I believe the biggest point being missed is consent of the governed. Peeking at a 2015 map of gas and petroleum indicates the natural gas field takes a diagonal route from Russia through the NE part of Ukraine. And Ukraine had development offshore plans South of Crimea. I also believe oligarchs in Ukraine were adding pass through fees from Russian resources and that is the whyfor of the newer Nordstream pipeline through the Baltic. I could be wrong, Putin may want to "save" Russians in the Kaliningrad Oblast with a highway to Moscow. And Putin might want to annex the Russian enclaves in New York (Sheepshead bay? New Brighton Beach?). Will somebody ask him why he is wreaking such devastation? Kill a hundred to save one?
As an American I've been engrossed in your 8-year conflict, ever since the 2014 Maidan coup of the legally elected Yanukovych government. Your short essay fails to mention the evil role played the Neocon-controlled US puppet masters. That coup would never have happened if it hadn't been funded (to the tune of 5 billion) by Russia-haters led by Victoria Nuland and John McCain and greenlit by Barack Obama. The CIA is behind every regime change operation that has a negative effect on Russia. Smaller European countries, including Germany, are irrelevant. They all kowtow to their US masters. When Washington tells them to jump, they ask how high.
Anyway, many analysts are now starting to question Mr. Putin's caution, and for waiting too long to stop the US drive to make Ukraine a belligerent NATO flunky on Russia's southern border. Why didn't Putin crush the coup in its infancy, (before Ukraine was supplied with so much high-tech weaponry), when he took back Crimea? Failing that, given that you claim that Russia is incapable of fighting a prolonged war (didn't Putin already know this?), he could have employed "shock and awe" tactics, as the US perfected in Iraq and Libya, to end the war in a matter of days, which would have resulted in few Russian casualties, and fewer Ukrainian ones in the long run? Wouldn't that have forced Zelenskyy to the negotiating table, forced to surrender on Russia's terms, and bringing this nightmare to a close? Much more to say, but I've droned on long enough. Best of luck to your country.
you say "This war is unjust and criminal on both sides." why both sides?
Thanks for this, our world needs to hear from more Russians
I trace my heritage to 4 Ukrainian grandparents, 2 who spoke Russian and 2 who spoke Ukrainian. I find Putin's references to Ukraine (country, culture, church, language etc) as somehow illegitimate (or inferior to Russian) to be particularly obnoxious. as an embodiment of a Ukrainian co-existence of cultures that which Putin seeks to rend asunder, I am sickened beyond remedy. i am left to prayer
Russia is not a failed capitalistic society girded by the rule of law. It's a hodge podge of nascent capitalistic society at the street level with an umbrella mobster structure called the oligarchs, what in America 129 years ago were called the Robber Barons. Think Chicago during the 1920s for the current corruption with no Elliot Ness fighting it. The remnant of the Russian heirarchy serves as it's sovereign entity.
The essay portends the neo-Communists will save Russia, but that's what the Mensheviks claimed they would do different from the czars, and the Bolsheviks said they would do different than the Mensheviks.
Yes, the American republic has its challenges with free market corruption, but 180 years I'd socialism has shown it always and quickly falls into a perpetual Dictatorship that never withers.
Yes, war is always hell, regardless of the side you are fighting for. However to claim that "This war is unjust and criminal on both sides," you need to address the facts that (1) the war is occurring in Ukraine, not in Russia, (2) Russians have moved troops and equipment, bombs and missiles, and land mines INTO Ukraine, and THROUGHOUT Ukraine, (3) Ukrainians are defending Ukrainian cities, towns, and villages, (4) no one needs to defend Russian cities, towns, and villages, because no one is attacking them. If you wish to dispute these facts, I am all ears, but if you do not dispute them, please note that they belie your statement regarding "both sides."
Hard to take any of this writing as anything but parody when the first paragraph reads - "This war is unjust and criminal on both sides."
Perhaps - now stay with me here for a sec.... if the Russian forces never stepped foot into Ukraine, provoked the violence in Eastern Ukraine, Russia would still be on its way towards Kleptocracy. It doesn't take Marxism to respect sovereign borders, only leaders who aren't complete villains.
But hey Substack has a place for demented communists all the same. Keep writing your garbage - never stop.
Uhh, again! Lost in USSR dream leftist is trying to gaslight with anti-capitalist and pseudo-pacifistic rant while pedaling the same old narrative - you cannot live without Russia. Guess what, we can.
The Communists murdered and enslaved millions of their own citizens and you want to bring that back? That sounds more evil that what Putin is doing right now. Putin was wrong to invade Ukraine. But using that as an excuse to bring back a corrupt, evil system doesn't seem to be a good solution.
Russia didn't start this war, it was Ukraine that took up arms against Donbass, when the attack stalled, NATO came to their aid. Why is NATO involved in a regional conflict? I have been protesting Canada's participation for years, NATO turned this into a global crisis. They always claimed it was a war against Russia, but we saw what happened when Russia finally entered the conflict. No one would deal with Russia honestly, that's my view from Canada.
Social media 101: Don't feed trolls!
For the Communists: Free Market Capitalism is not the problem. However, Corrupt Corporate Capitalism IS a HUGE problem in America and in many Democratic countries. So that is some truth in the fact that Capitalism can create huge problems if not properly controlled. OTOH Communism also created problems and caused millions of innocent people to die in every country it has been tried. NO ideology is perfect. That's for sure. So why not try to take the best parts of both and create a system that works for the majority and also takes care of those at the bottom? Capitalism has the ability to create far more wealth than Communism or Socialism. But that also creates other issues. Like too much money, power and control in the hands of a few. To those familiar with Communism in practice this should sound very familiar. Because the exact same situation occurs in that system. The leaders say that they are going to help the poor. But those leaders usually live very well while the masses suffer. Communism is a scam. It preys on the ignorant, indoctrinated poor and they end up suffering the worst in the end.
I believe the biggest point being missed is consent of the governed. Peeking at a 2015 map of gas and petroleum indicates the natural gas field takes a diagonal route from Russia through the NE part of Ukraine. And Ukraine had development offshore plans South of Crimea. I also believe oligarchs in Ukraine were adding pass through fees from Russian resources and that is the whyfor of the newer Nordstream pipeline through the Baltic. I could be wrong, Putin may want to "save" Russians in the Kaliningrad Oblast with a highway to Moscow. And Putin might want to annex the Russian enclaves in New York (Sheepshead bay? New Brighton Beach?). Will somebody ask him why he is wreaking such devastation? Kill a hundred to save one?
I don't know if Russians ever heard of Scott Ritter but his recent piece in Monthly Review Online may be of interest. https://mronline.org/2022/04/14/the-ukrainian-conflict-is-a-u-s-nato-proxy-war-but-one-which-russia-is-poised-to-win-decisively-scott-ritter/
As an American I've been engrossed in your 8-year conflict, ever since the 2014 Maidan coup of the legally elected Yanukovych government. Your short essay fails to mention the evil role played the Neocon-controlled US puppet masters. That coup would never have happened if it hadn't been funded (to the tune of 5 billion) by Russia-haters led by Victoria Nuland and John McCain and greenlit by Barack Obama. The CIA is behind every regime change operation that has a negative effect on Russia. Smaller European countries, including Germany, are irrelevant. They all kowtow to their US masters. When Washington tells them to jump, they ask how high.
Anyway, many analysts are now starting to question Mr. Putin's caution, and for waiting too long to stop the US drive to make Ukraine a belligerent NATO flunky on Russia's southern border. Why didn't Putin crush the coup in its infancy, (before Ukraine was supplied with so much high-tech weaponry), when he took back Crimea? Failing that, given that you claim that Russia is incapable of fighting a prolonged war (didn't Putin already know this?), he could have employed "shock and awe" tactics, as the US perfected in Iraq and Libya, to end the war in a matter of days, which would have resulted in few Russian casualties, and fewer Ukrainian ones in the long run? Wouldn't that have forced Zelenskyy to the negotiating table, forced to surrender on Russia's terms, and bringing this nightmare to a close? Much more to say, but I've droned on long enough. Best of luck to your country.