Russia INVADES UKRAINE
President Putin decided to invade Ukraine this week. We examine what happened, why it happened, the civilian & media response, and what the West should do about it
We have to call out imperialism wherever we see it. Here at The Truth, we do that when the United States does its seemingly unending military operations, orchestrates coup d'états and destroys entire nations because the Washington deep state don’t like their previous leaders. We do that all the time, and will continue to.
But, because imperialism is bad, we here have a go wherever we see it. And what the Vladimir Putin-led Russian federation has done across Ukraine most certainly imperialism.
I cannot emphasize enough my opposition to the right-wing, fascist, imperialistic government that Putin leads, and that these actions in Ukraine are indefensible.
However, before we get into all of the detail and nuance, I need to admit to you all that I called this one wrong. I didn’t think Russia would invade. I thought Putin was smart enough not to invade. He isn’t. I probably allowed my mistrust of the warmongering American spy agencies to get the better of my judgement here.
What’s actually happened?
Before we get into exactly what everyone is thinking about, we need to learn about what has actually happened. No doubt that by the time this is published, and by the time that you are actually reading this, much more will have happened. But we can only recap what has happened thus far, of course.
So, after months of building up to 200,000 troops on borders surrounding Ukraine and attempts from some Western nations, mainly France, to negotiate a peace deal, Vladimir Putin finally gave the order for troops to enter their neighboring nation.
It started right at the start of the week when Putin recognized Ukrainian separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states. Bear in mind that only about 40% of these regions are controlled by forces who consider themselves Russian, and that they have, since 1991, been a part of the Ukrainian nation. Now, you could argue that these regions could have been a bargaining chip from Western powers in seeking a peaceful resolution before this week. I can understand that, given that the majority of people in those regions identify as Russians. However, what you cannot deny is that Putin’s decision to recognize these regions as independent states and sending Russian troops in on a quote-on-quote ‘peacekeeping mission’ is undoubtedly imperialism, and a war crime. These people did not get a vote. The Ukrainian government, which controlled 60% of these regions, did not get a say. Russia simply made an announcement that they were independent and sent troops in. That is a war crime.
After that, things escalated quickly. On Thursday morning Ukrainian time, Russia began a full-scale military operation to take Ukraine. After just the first day of fighting, over 100 Ukrainians had died.
Fighting has broken out across Ukraine. There is barely a region that has been untouched, as you can see in this (admittedly blurry) map below.
This is an horrific war crime. None of this has any legal or moral justification (will get more onto why this is later).
As I write this, the Russian military are entering Kyiv (I always thought is was spelt Kiev but maybe I’m wrong), which is quite clearly the beginning of their efforts to take the country.
On top of this, Russia have taken back the Chernobyl nuclear powerplant, a move that I don’t understand at all. Why would they target the one part of the nation of Ukraine where people cannot actually physically go? I don’t understand.
President Zelensky of Ukraine announced Martial Law, and has banned males aged 18-60 from leaving the country. However, this is going to be nearly impossible to enforce.
Meanwhile, the G7 have met, and all the nations in that group, on top of most other countries in the West, as President Biden announced this week.
Of course, this is all a very fluid situation, and will have almost certainly changed by the time that you are reading this.
Why did Russia invade?
In a speech to the nation of Russia, Vladimir Putin announced that they were entering Ukraine, and his reasoning for doing so.
If you prefer to read the speech, you can do so here.
There were two main reasons he gave. One of these was the suggestion that I presented to you in our last breakdown of the conflict as it stood about a month ago. For about half the speech, Putin talked about how, as NATO formed in 1991, they promised the then-leaders of the Soviet Union that at no point would they expand East, which they then did on no less than five occasions.
Nobody can deny that Russia would have seen this as a massive act of aggression. Imagine the American meltdown if Russia put troops in Mexico, even if Mexico wanted them there. There is no doubt it would be taken as a massive direct threat to the United States homeland, rightly so. We don’t even need to go into the land of hypotheticals for this. The Cuban missile crisis is a pretty good comparison for this as well, from that specific Russian perspective.
On top of that, the United States and Ukraine have been funding literal Nazi’s on the Ukraine/Russia border for many years. I do not exaggerate. These people literally fly Nazi flags and wear SS badges. Literal Nazi’s.
Most people in Leftist circles understood why Russia would be scared by that, and thought that it could be why they were building up troops. Putin certainly commented on that during his address.
I am referring to the expansion of the NATO to the east, moving its military infrastructure closer to Russian borders. It is well known that for 30 years we have persistently and patiently tried to reach an agreement with the leading NATO countries on the principles of equal and inviolable security in Europe. In response to our proposals, we constantly faced either cynical deception and lies, or attempts to pressure and blackmail, while NATO, despite all our protests and concerns, continued to steadily expand. The war machine is moving and, I repeat, it is coming close to our borders.
I can understand why he would be scared of that, and that he may have felt the need to put more troops on the border because of it. However, in no way does that excuse an invasion like the one we have seen.
More importantly, he alluded to what I think is the real reason he has gone into Ukraine: he doesn’t think it is a legitimate country.
Modern Ukraine was entirely and fully created by Russia, more specifically the Bolshevik, communist Russia. This process began practically immediately after the 1917 revolution, and moreover Lenin and his associates did it in the sloppiest way in relation to Russia — by dividing, tearing from her pieces of her own historical territory.
Of course, this is all bullshit. I don’t think I need to say that. As Chairman of the Eurasia group, Cliff Kupchan, said it, “Putin’s argument today that Ukraine is historically subsumed by Russia is just not right.”
This speaks to the much larger reason at heart. While Putin is far from a communist, he does want the geopolitical power that the Soviet Union had, and he is furious that the Union was broken up 30 years ago. Putin is currently all-consumed by a hatred for what he views as the failures of his predecessors. Now, his predecessors failed in many areas, but allowing a nation that largely wants to be independent being independent isn’t one them.
It is an interesting thought experience to think about what would have happened if NATO had never expanded East, as they had promised, but I don’t think that much would’ve changed. Putin’s all-out anger at what he considers the historical failures of his predecessors probably would’ve led to the same result anyway.
On top of this, you can add in the potential of economic benefits that taking Ukraine could get for Russia. Ukraine is full of valuable natural resources, including oil. Russia is already the 3rd largest producer of oil in the world, behind just Saudi Arabia and the United States. Taking over Ukraine will give them yet more oil and other natural resources, which will strengthen them. 99% of people in Russia in 2015 were poorer than they were in 1991, as the Gravel institute tweeted a couple of weeks ago. They need an economic boost, and taking Ukraine theoretically could help this
One more suggestion I would add is that Putin is going to be 70 years old this year. Russia’s life expectancy is 73. There were also reports in 2020, admittedly originating from the historically untrustworthy Sun newspaper in the UK, that Putin has Parkinson’s disease, and may have had cancer. He will be aware that he is in the last few years of his life probably, and wants his legacy to be one of expanding Russia back to the geopolitical level they once left.
Western politicians & media react
There have been a number of responses from American and British politicians and media alike, most of which have been far from good.
Let’s start with the good.
Jeremy Corbyn’s Stop The War movement in Britain put out a pretty fair statement on Monday.
All that this statement suggests is that all the countries involved go back to the agreement that they reached a few years ago. They condemn the Russian military actions. Some people, including the leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer, have accused this coalition of being Russian agents. In my experience, Russian agents don’t condemn Russia.
Bernie Sanders put out a solid 7/10 statement on this incident as well.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine that the world is witnessing today is a blatant violation of international law and of basic human decency. It may well kill thousands and displace millions. It could plunge Europe into long-term economic and political instability.
The United States and our allies must impose severe sanctions on Vladimir Putin and his fellow oligarchs. At a time when thousands may die as a result of his war, Putin, one of the richest people in the world, should not be allowed to enjoy the billions he stole from the Russian people. The United States must also work closely with international partners to provide humanitarian relief for the Ukrainian people.
Now, sanctions are an interesting discussion that we will get back to later, but his summation of a potential 3rd war on European soil in the last 110 years is pretty accurate.
Now to get some of the bad.
Where better to start that two former Presidents who committed some of the greatest war crimes since World War 2?
Barack Obama, AKA the drone king, who killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqi’s, Afghans, Syrians and Somalians, criticized Russia for imperialism. Hypocrisy much?
He also said that everyone should support President Biden through this. Yes, let’s all support the 80 year old war hawk who almost certainly has dementia. He’ll get us through this!
Next is President Trump, who, in an interview with radio host Buck Sexton, called Putin’s takeover ‘genius’.
What went wrong was a rigged election. What went wrong is a candidate (Joe Biden) who shouldn’t be there, and a man who has no concept of what he’s doing. I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said ‘this is genius’. Putin declares a big portion of Ukraine ‘independent’. Oh, that’s wonderful! I said ‘how smart is that’? And he said he’s going to be a peacekeeper. That’s the strongest peace force. We could use that on our Southern border. That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen. There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re gonna keep peace all right! Think about it, here’s a guy whose very savvy, I know him very well. By the way, this would’ve never happened with us. Had I been in office, not even thinkable. This would never have happened … You know what the response was from Biden? They had no response. Very sad.
I know that that was difficult to understand. I struggled to write it. This man is not easy to quote!
Just, to be clear, when he says what Russia is doing is ‘wonderful’, he is being sarcastic. He doesn’t support it.
However, aside from all the self-pitying grievances and the nonsense about the Southern border, we do need to actually look at how stupid what he said is. Surely he understands that it isn’t ‘smart’ to invade another country under the pretense of peacekeeping. It’s just how imperialist powers work. They don’t come in and say ‘hey guys, we’re the baddies’. No, they make themselves look like the victims. It’s what America did in Iraq when they claimed that Saddam had WMDs. Surely Trump knows this.
MSNBC decided to bring on one of the biggest war hawks in the world, John Bolton, on, to share his views. He basically said Trump was too weak on Russia and that Biden was too weak on Russia, and that American military should work alongside Ukraine to scare the Russians. He also wants all sanctions upfront.
John Bolton will always tell you that war is good. And yet MSNBC always keep bringing him on!
Of course, there are many more good examples of shitty comments, but in the interests of time, given this piece is already very, very long, we’ll move on.
Russian public opinion
Let’s comment on the only real heroes in this situation. The civilians around the world who have gone out into the streets to stop war.
We have seen protests in most countries around the Western world, including Washington, London and Sydney. These protests were to be expected.
But far, far more brave were the thousands of Russians who took to the streets in their own country. Putin is a scary, scary dictator, who has killed or try to kill many political enemies. And yet these heroes were brave enough to go out into the streets. Solidarity with them.
Over 1700 protesters have already been arrested by Russian police. Every single one of them is a hero.
When I say that Putin is scary, I mean it. I’m sure his spy chief, who was clearly terrified of him this week, agrees.
Polls from Russia show division among the ranks. 51% of Russians want the two countries to be separate. 83% of Russians view their Ukrainian comrades favorably. That is by far the most you are ever going to get in a country where they only really get the information that the government-funded media gives them.
What should the Western response be?
This is the most difficult section to write. There are no good answers. The full truth is that I don’t know what I want Biden, Johnson, the EU and others to do. However, there are a few things that are important to mention.
There is an argument that the West, especially the United States and the United Kingdom, have no moral right to criticize Russia over this. The US is currently illegally occupying 1/3 of the land in Syria, which is a war crime. They are bombing Somalia, illegally. Those two countries launched the horrific Iraq war in 2003 that killed hundreds of thousands, if not a million, people. So there is an argument there.
On the other hand, though, we can understand why the biggest global superpower feels the need to protect a country that they consider an ally. I understand that as well.
But there are serious problems with every single proposal here.
The suggestion that most people who don’t want war have suggested, and in many cases implemented, are very serious sanctions that will cause massive harm on the Russian economy. The theory is that these will harm Putin and Russian oligarchs big-time.
However, in just about every situation where the West has applied sanctions, the oligarchs and leaders who they target aren’t affected adversely. The people, on the other hand, are. This is true in North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Syria and Iran, and even in countries where the sanctions are as targeted as they can be at individuals. They simply harm civilians, who, again, are opposed to the war.
And when I say that they ‘harm civilians’, I mean to the point of death. In Venezuela, there was reporting that US sanctions had killed up to 40,000 civilians. They have killed countless others in all four of those other nations as well. They would doubtless do the same in Russia.
And, unfortunately, that would probably be the lightest response that Biden might take.
One suggestion is that Russia is removed from the SWIFT banking system, which is the foundation for global banking. Not only would this cause the significant problems for the Russian civilians that we discussed earlier, but it would also be taken by the Russians as a “declaration of war,” as former Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev said in 2014 when it was mooted as a response to Crimea being taken.
Finally, you could go all out war. Try to defeat Russia in Ukraine and push them back, weakening their military in the process. It is worth noting on this that Biden did rule this out a couple of weeks ago, but I wouldn’t put it past this White House to do such a major U-turn on this matter.
For the time being, though, let’s take it as a serious proposal. Just think about the death and destruction this will cause. Think about all the Russian, Ukrainian and American bodies that will pile up. Think about the 8000 nuclear weapons that each of Russia and the United States both have that could easily kill us all. As far as I’m concerned, that is not an option.
I don’t know what the right course of action is. There are very serious problems with all 4 of these. Direct war seems like the absolute worst though, and we should avoid that at all costs.
This is a dire situation that keeps changing by the minute. No doubt that when you read this, things will have changed drastically. But we’ll keep doing our best to bring you the news that matters on this. Thanks for sticking with us.