It’s a money orgy for politicians, the Military Industrial Complex and billionaires. And it’s probably a great source of crack and children for Hunter Biden.
Actually good you mentioned China - it's pretty interesting that all this anti-Russia pro Ukraine Woke crowd yet seems to have nothing against Communist China...
Not that I'm shilling for Putin but I just hate hypocrisy. If they really condemn illiberal tyrannical regimes, then they should condemn them ALL equally. When they hate Russia so much and even democratic Israel, but make excuse after excuse for Communist China, Islamist Iran or HAMAS terrorists, then I'm not buying their rhetoric. It's not about opposing tyrannies and wars, it's about Russophobic and Antisemitic hate.
I've read one biography of Putin, written in 2015. I've forgotten the title. Based on what I have seen on TV and read in different publications, my assessment of the man is that he is fearless; and intelligent; and educated; and as devoted to his country as any man could be.
He's also a macho guy, Judo and all that. Observe how he sits. As Joe Biden lounges with his legs crossed like a sissy diplomat, Putin stares back, legs wide spread, ready for action. (It's called man-spreading, and the purple hair hags just hate it to death.)
I do not recall another world leader who could portray feelings of revulsion and contempt for his political adversaries as clearly as Putin. And if there is anybody of any stature in any other country who doubts that he will make a mushroom cloud over NATO's persistent antagonizing, well, won't heorshe or they be surprised when he does.
A man can be pushed so far, and when his back meets the wall, something violent will happen. Putin could get his message across with a nuke bomb to some farmland in Ukraine, and then declare that Kiev is next. It would be an attention getter. Is Joe Biden willing to go to war with that man, for Ukraine?
Well I'm not really agreeing with your assessment of Putin, but don't wanna argue. Also, I do agree that Putin is strong - or appears so at least - where Biden is weak.
But the main problem with this war is that first it's just money-laundering scam, and, second, it's used to restore toxic Cold War mindset and Russophobic prejudice, and I don't really like it - we need Russian people on our side against globalist shit.
While I completely agree that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is not an excuse for being cruel to Russians in the West, it’s not the case that Ukraine has had no independent identity throughout history, nor is most of what your write above accurate. My wife is from Poland and due to this I took an interest in the history of the region prior even to the outbreak of this war. Ukraine has had its own identity at least since the 17th century. They were in a constant struggle to assert their independence from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (an empire) and from the Russian Empire for centuries. Saying they haven’t had their own identity is simply propaganda. One piece of evidence for this is that they speak their own language, which has elements in common with both Russian and Polish, but is not the same language as either. Multiple things can be true at once: the USA elite (and the Euro elite) can be idiotic and corrupt, the Ukrainian government can be corrupt, Putin can be a tyrant, he can be supported by many Russians and not be supported by many others (especially in the diaspora), and there can be a tiny minority of actual Nazis in Ukraine while the vast majority of Ukrainians are not fighting for racist reasons but because they were invaded. The world is complicated. And equating Palestine with Ukraine is not at all accurate.
Well I have some knowledge of the region too, and I have some Russian and Finnish background and connections as well. What you're saying isn't entirely accurate either. The land where modern Ukraine is now was called Little Russia in the past. People who lived there were Poles and Russians, as you correctly said, and their mixture. So where is Ukrainian national identity? Sounds like mixture of Polish and Russian ones to me. Same in modern Ukraine - Eastern Ukraine is populated by Russians, Western one by Ukrainians who are ethnically really close to Poles. There are also Hungarians here, but where are true Ukrainians??
I didn't say also that Ukraine is exactly like Palestine, but some similarities are striking. Western double standard on Ukraine-Russia just like on Israel-Palestine, ignoring HAMAS problem and Ukrainian Nazi problem, some problems with national identity of Palestinians who are in truth Arabs, and Ukrainians who are mix of Russians and Poles.
I have a deep respect for Poland and Poles by the way, tell it to your wife. In a big part that despite complex relationships between Poland and Russia and annexation of Poland by Stalin and Hitler together, Poles well remember the horrors of Holocaust and don't condone to Nazis unlike Ukrainians who also sided with Hitler back in WWII and I believe are guilty of massacre of Poles in Volhynia. See? I also know the history of the region and not just a 'propagandist'.
I also agree with you that this conflict us very complex and many things can be true at the same time. The reason why I had written it so bitterly and with strong anti-Ukrainian stance is not because I don't see this complexity or hate Ukraine or shill for Putin but because I wanted to counter Democratic Ukrainian warmongering propaganda, and the best way to do it is to be as strict in the opposite direction, to cause Insightful realization via shock reaction. But I can assure you I understand the complexity of situation and not taking sides here. Same as with Israel-Palestine - my point is to crush pro Pally narrative, to expose it's hypocrisy and Antisemitism and not to justify all Netanyahu actions.
It seems we are coming from different angles on what an identity is…stating that they are a border region between two empires or have been called “Little Russians” does not signify that they don’t have their own identity. They speak a different language that is neither Russian nor Polish, for example, and themselves feel that they are neither. They do have their own country and are proud of it. I can tell you that they feel so strongly that this is the case that Poland emptied of fighting-age Ukrainian men once the war began. They went back voluntarily to fight for what they see as their country. Low-wage workers in Poland were mostly Ukrainians. Now even the older men have gone back to Ukraine. I have many Russian friends, too, and have nothing at all against Russia. But an invasion is an invasion and Putin is the worst kind of tyrant. I pray for better leaders for the Russians and the Ukrainians. And for us!
Thanks for the compliments for Poland. They are indeed very brave and tend to stand up against all kinds of tyranny. I don’t know much about Finland but I think Russians are very strong, passionate, and have such beautiful literature and classical music. Very very beautiful ♥️
I really value trying to rid the world of propaganda by countering it with honesty. It doesn’t always work, but I have noticed that if people can trust each other to at least try our best to seek the truth, it’s much easier to have conversations. And conversation is ultimately the only alternative to violence.
"Ukraine has had its own identity at least since the 17th century" Doesn't explain why one of Ukraine's greatest writers, Nikolai Gogol, referred to Ukrainians as Little Russians. Some identity.
Exactly, there were just Little Russians, Poles and some Hungarians, never any Ukrainians.
The mere name Ukraine (Украина, окраина) roughly translates from Russian as an 'outskirts' meaning basically a periphery of Russian Empire back at the time.
It's completely made up nation and state. Perhaps that's why modern day Ukrainians are so sensitive about their national identity and so prone to ultra nationalism - because deep within they feel that their national identity is a fake one, and fiercely deny it.
To me “Little Russians” sounds like “not quite Russians”, which suggests a separate identity. I also just wonder why Ukrainians are willing to fight and die against such huge odds to keep their separate country and identity if they don’t have one? What do you see as their motivation?
Oh, I certainly don't defend Putin and his invasion. As far as I'm concerned, he deserves to be judged in Hague or in Russian High Court - not just for his invasion but for his countless crimes against his own people - his political opponents like Navalny, his former allies who saw through his lies like Prigozhin, Russian gays and liberal opposition whom he prosecutes, young Russian soldiers whom he sents to die and to kill in Ukraine, and Russian population in general whom he had subjected to unprecedented Western sanctions while he himself isn't harmed by them at all.
Speaking of his invasion, I don't believe it's solution to anything. Even if Putin does not believe in Ukrainian nation or wanted to get back Russian speaking Ukrainian regions like Donbass and Crimea, he might have approached it differently. He might have negotiated with Ukraine to buy Crimea and Donbass out, or to exchange them for some other land like Taganrog which used to be Ukrainian actually (Khrushchev had exchanged Taganrog for Crimea back in 60s). If Ukraine got Taganrog back, it would have gotten an access to Azov sea, while Russia would have gotten a buffer zone with vile Chechnya, so everyone would have been happy. There was no reason whatsoever to neither annex Crimea nor invade Ukraine, Putin might have solved both issues in countless other ways to suit everyone, not just himself at everyone's expense. So I do condemn Putin, make no mistake. My doubts about Ukrainian national identity are unrelated issue there and not part of Putin's propaganda to justify the invasion.
Thanks for kind words of Russians too! Finns are also strong, resilient, honest and loyal, on downside can be stubborn and sometimes cruel and disconnected from their emotions, Russians can be too emotional in the contrary. As a Russian Finnish I should have been balanced emotionally but alas I'm just alternating between Russian emotional outbursts and Finnish dead calmness lol. Either way I feel more American, love and speak English language more than both Russian and Finnish (though I know both of those languages natively and also learned some French), and love American freedom more than anything - alas both Russians and Finns don't have much freedom and don't appreciate it much either sadly...
It’s absolutely heartbreaking what Putin is doing to Russians, too, I agree. I wish they could be free of the tyranny. I was listening to a translation of the letter that Navalny wrote to a friend (I believe a famous writer who is Russian-Israeli). He wrote it from prison and said something along the lines that everyone thought they were done with the KGB and the tyranny with the USSR but it was never really gone. 💔 I watched a video from Russia of a guy just standing on the street with a blank sheet of paper, holding it like a placard. And the police arrest him. Because this was a protest about not being able to speak. Unbelievable.
Finns sound like they would make good friends! I have some Russian friends and they are also really great to have in your corner :) LOL about the emotional outbursts and the dead calm! I think that’s a similar combo to mine, being mostly Cajun but part German…you can imagine which is the dead calm, perfectionist part 😂
It’s hard to understand how people can not love freedom, as Americans, right? Can’t really wrap our heads around it. Of course, I’m not counting Marxist college students as Americans. But they renounced the USA so I see that as fair 😂
Yeah, the tragic part about Russia is that USSR and KGB never were really gone. Yeltsin 90s was just a brief masquerade to fool people both in Russia and in the West that they were gone, and when people bought it, KGB sneakily came back with Putin... I mean he literally WAS a former KGB agent! I immediately told people it bode nothing good to anyone already back in 2000 when he just set his foot into the Kremlin - the mere fact that he was a former KGB agent was enough for me to see the dark clouds ahead, but no one listened to me as usual, even if I was absolutely correct... So I'm used to not being listened to sadly - neither in Russia nor in Finland not in US lol. Well I'm happy people listen to me here on Substack at least.
Oh, those Woketards aren't proper Americans, ungrateful entitled kids. I think having a Russian background and remembering USSR I appreciate American freedom much more than them who don't know shit taking into account they cheer for places like Iran and Gaza where they'd be murdered, and shit on their homeland who had given them all their rights, freedoms and good life they don't appreciate enough. Stupid ungrateful idiots.
Those kids were entirely miseducated…it’s so bad. I maintain that if we had real education about history in this country, we wouldn’t have this issue with the Woke nuttos.
You know, it’s funny you’re bringing that up because I was just telling my wife the other day I distinctly remember that whole “Putin is the guy who is going to usher in true democracy in Russia” episode as my first early inkling that the “experts” either weren’t that smart or were not telling us what the real game was. I mean, how could anyone think a former KGB agent could believe in democracy? And I was just around 20 and not paying that close attention. It’s unbelievable anyone bought that line.
About Ukrainian national identity and why they feel so strongly about it if they don't have any, I have an interesting theory. I think ironically Putin had created their national identity or at least amplified it manifold by constantly meddling into Ukrainian affairs. The more Putin meddled, the stronger Ukrainian national identity became, up to Nazis and Russophobia even. I don't even judge Ukrainians for neither - I think no one likes when someone constantly interferes in their affairs. I certainly wouldn't have liked that too. And to cling to their own national identity as opposed to Russian one was the best way to confront Putin for them and not to give in to desperarion after Putin tried to destroy them, quite literally with his invasion. Does it sound plausible?
But did Ukrainians feel so strong about their national identity BEFORE Putin began to meddle into their affairs? Before his invasion, before Donbass separatism, before Crimea annexation, before Euromaidan? Not really. Ukrainians didn't feel so strongly about their national identity. They didn't feel themselves much different from Russians, especially Eastern Ukrainians. They perceived themselves rather like part of common Russian or Slavic culture to be more precise, than a separate Ukrainian nation. I still maintain that if not for Putin and his criminal meddling, there would have neither strong Ukrainian national identity nor Ukrainian Nazis.
Putin created a problem of Ukrainian Nazis HIMSELF and then used them to justify his invasion - his worst crime against Ukrainian people perhaps. Disgustingly cynical.
No doubt being pressured and then invaded by a massive neighbor would make anyone more passionate about defending themselves. In my experience with Ukrainians, though, there are regions that felt much closer to Russia, like Donbas and Crimea, where people spoke Russian as their mother tongue. I have a friend from Crimea and she told me that she felt more Russian than anything. But we have other friends from the center and west of the country and Ukrainian is their mother tongue and their grandparents speak that, everyone there does. And they feel they have never been exactly Russian. They felt Russians were like brothers, maybe, before this war. Also they were more turning towards the West than Russia before this all happened. They looked at the West and wanted our freedom and looked at Russia going back to authoritarianism and didn’t want that kind of life.
I have to says something on the Nazi thing, as it keeps coming up. My friends there, including ones from more Russian regions, say there is a Nazi kind of party in the country, that gets a tiny percentage of the vote: something around 1-3% if I recall correctly. That’s standard in Europe, though. Yes, Ukrainians had this brigade in WW2 that were actually Nazis. That doesn’t mean the ideology is popular now, any more than Germany being run by Hitler back then makes current Germans Nazis, if you see what I mean. There is obviously this actual Nazi brigade fighting with the Ukrainians now and being armed. That’s scary as hell and my friends aren’t happy about it. But they said…if you get jumped on the street and a dangerous guy you can’t stand helps you fight off your attackers, do you live to fight another day or do you turn down the help? It’s a hell of a choice.
Yeah I might not be judging Ukrainians as strictly for allowing Nazi brigades as Azov as I said, I judge more American Democrats who blissfully ignore this problem.
So do you think maybe to split Western and Eastern Ukraine might be a solution? Or to give the East to Russia if its people really want it? What's the point of Zelensky clinging to those parts when their people don't want him? Yeah I know there were borders defined by 1991, but tensions between East and West of Ukrainr never really disappeared, it might have been Lenin's mistake to lump those parts together to begin with. If Eastern and Western Ukraine were two different states all along, we might not have had all this shit now.
To me, that seems to potentially make sense to let the eastern areas that vote for it in a carefully monitored election go to Russia, if they so choose. But I could imagine there may be strategic military reasons or resource reasons why that would be unacceptable to either Ukraine or Russia or both. It may not be sheer pride or anger holding them back.
I didn't say situations are totally the same, and I didn't justify Putin's invasion either.
But currently Russia wars in Ukraine and Israel - in Gaza. And similarly nothing is forgiven to Israel and Russia, and everything is forgiven to Ukraine and Palestine, up to Nazis and terror.
Perhaps I Don’t agree with the direct comparison, but what is now not discussed was that Israel contested the American led political and fiscal takeover of the Ukraine until pressurised by America to fall in line. After the conflict in Ukraine blew up, Russia back-channelled supplies, weapons and money through Iran & Qatar to Hamas which led to the Oct7th massacre. Russia had been making soft overtures to Israel for closer link in a strategic move in the middle-east, so this can been seen as a form of immoral retribution.
So you believe Putin might be behind October 7th massacre indirectly? Interesting, but still, why? Israel was the only Western ally which wasn't sending lethal weapons to Ukraine and didn't join all the anti-Russian sanctions either, so why would Putin fuck this up?
Russia was courting Israel for soft relations but they were insincerely doing so and wished to remove western influence on key issues. Ultimately the balance of power in the middle east has been slowly taken over by China & Russia, not to be mistaken for the alliance known as BRICS, this alliance is about China becoming a world power and Russia ruling the northern Arabic territories remotely with a new trade front and oil dynamic to challenge Saudi oil. Does Russia care what happen to Gaza? No. Does Russia care that much about Israel? No. This conflict has been about oil, US hegemony and the rise of China. America has admittedly done an underhand thing strategically cutting off the Ukraine. Russia couldn't attack America directly, so Russia had to choose an ally of the US that it could manipulate indirectly. Missiles, weapons, munitions and funds all flow from a Russian spigot whether they be Lebanon, Iran, Houthi or Hamas. We all need to realise that there is a case for the US acting both illegally and aggressively in the Ukraine, the conflict there was intentionally designed by 2 recently resigned deputies of the CIA and State dept. However morally we can all agree 600k dead in southern Russia/Ukraine as well as thousands dead in Gaza and Israel are the direct result of US strategic military aggression. It remains to be seen if this was the correct thing in the long run (personally I feel it was wrong), but the dislocation of the media coverage over these realities in the media is very intentional. If it were to be communicated accurately the silent majority in the west would halt the conflict completely, and we couldn't just see maladjusted woke activists coming to the defence of terrorist and a middle class assuming Russia to be in the wrong. Also to note another key was the Abraham accords which didnt suit Iran, the Houthis, Lebanon, Russia or China. Saudi and many other middle eastern states agreeing to trade with Israel solidifying peace was not only a modernising progression in trade, but an act that would undermine religious fundamentalism in the middle east that affords power to warlord expansionists who wish to see a minor Caliphate return in the region. This was a major political coup for Trump which he would have backed up by building reasonble relations with Russia separating them from Chinese influence (or diluting it at least). Bidens gov was happy to facilitate the undermining of this with aggression which was a plan cooked up by the American establishment Trump was not fully on board with. Interestingly the plan was an extension of Iraq2, of which those 2 deputies were highly involved in. This has now failed, hence the resignations. The war in the Ukraine can not be won. The US may continue to sue for peace with Gaza but the offerings though reasonable can not be agreed to and both sides know this. Ultimately peace is achievable with Russia, though much more likely with Trump it is inevitable with both the Dems and Reps. the suspicion is that the Dems will talk peace with Gaza but look for its complete destruction, which again Trump may actually look for a real deal here.. but given the timing, Hamas will be all but destroyed on the ground by September. Hamas will end up being rebranded by its leaders in Qatar and Lebanon who will have personally profited by the conflict, as will have the leaders of the Ukraine who may one day return home. Interestingly Ukrainian leadership have been buying a lot of US property with the funds they received recently. That is telling.
A very interesting analysis actually, I agree with a lot of points. I also believe we need to take Russia away from Chinese influence and to restore good relations between Europe and Russia, same as between Saudis and Israel. It's the only way to long term peace and end of both Chinese Communist and Islamist fundamentalist influence. That's why both Ukrainian and Gaza war are that bad - they undermine both those good processes and increase Islamist and Communist influence. Democrats had done very badly here.
But what your predictions about both wars again? If Trump wins, he'd make peace in Ukraine and restore relations with Russia? What if Biden would cheat his way to victory, what's then?
What's about Gaza also? You believe HAMAS would be destroyed anyway but then Qatar and Lebanon bring it back to life?
Russia has to be satiated and they know it. I suspect Trump would engage straight away, and get a better deal. If Biden steals the election then they will probably wait till halfway through his second term and have protracted negotiations within which the real risk will be Iran acting on Israel strategically obo Russia and China. There are a lot of inherent risks with the latter.
Hamas will rebrand and the leaders will most probably engage in Lebanon, Iran and on the south coast in setting up command (Maybe Afghanistan too if Russia does a deal).. but I think Iraq will be the second largest target with a fresh primary attack coming on Europe and America. So we can expect some trouble on the streets this summer, but either way, Trump or Biden; the cat is out of the box and in 2 years we are going to have real issues at home.
It’s a money orgy for politicians, the Military Industrial Complex and billionaires. And it’s probably a great source of crack and children for Hunter Biden.
Yeah that's why they're so unwilling to make a peace deal and this scam money-laundering war for good.
Who’s filling Hunters money sack?
ZelenSSky?
And the Chinese and so called green startups and me if he’ll lay a couple mill on me🤣
Actually good you mentioned China - it's pretty interesting that all this anti-Russia pro Ukraine Woke crowd yet seems to have nothing against Communist China...
Not that I'm shilling for Putin but I just hate hypocrisy. If they really condemn illiberal tyrannical regimes, then they should condemn them ALL equally. When they hate Russia so much and even democratic Israel, but make excuse after excuse for Communist China, Islamist Iran or HAMAS terrorists, then I'm not buying their rhetoric. It's not about opposing tyrannies and wars, it's about Russophobic and Antisemitic hate.
The ‘big guy’ jo
Who's the big guy? Biden?
I've read one biography of Putin, written in 2015. I've forgotten the title. Based on what I have seen on TV and read in different publications, my assessment of the man is that he is fearless; and intelligent; and educated; and as devoted to his country as any man could be.
He's also a macho guy, Judo and all that. Observe how he sits. As Joe Biden lounges with his legs crossed like a sissy diplomat, Putin stares back, legs wide spread, ready for action. (It's called man-spreading, and the purple hair hags just hate it to death.)
I do not recall another world leader who could portray feelings of revulsion and contempt for his political adversaries as clearly as Putin. And if there is anybody of any stature in any other country who doubts that he will make a mushroom cloud over NATO's persistent antagonizing, well, won't heorshe or they be surprised when he does.
A man can be pushed so far, and when his back meets the wall, something violent will happen. Putin could get his message across with a nuke bomb to some farmland in Ukraine, and then declare that Kiev is next. It would be an attention getter. Is Joe Biden willing to go to war with that man, for Ukraine?
Well I'm not really agreeing with your assessment of Putin, but don't wanna argue. Also, I do agree that Putin is strong - or appears so at least - where Biden is weak.
But the main problem with this war is that first it's just money-laundering scam, and, second, it's used to restore toxic Cold War mindset and Russophobic prejudice, and I don't really like it - we need Russian people on our side against globalist shit.
While I completely agree that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is not an excuse for being cruel to Russians in the West, it’s not the case that Ukraine has had no independent identity throughout history, nor is most of what your write above accurate. My wife is from Poland and due to this I took an interest in the history of the region prior even to the outbreak of this war. Ukraine has had its own identity at least since the 17th century. They were in a constant struggle to assert their independence from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (an empire) and from the Russian Empire for centuries. Saying they haven’t had their own identity is simply propaganda. One piece of evidence for this is that they speak their own language, which has elements in common with both Russian and Polish, but is not the same language as either. Multiple things can be true at once: the USA elite (and the Euro elite) can be idiotic and corrupt, the Ukrainian government can be corrupt, Putin can be a tyrant, he can be supported by many Russians and not be supported by many others (especially in the diaspora), and there can be a tiny minority of actual Nazis in Ukraine while the vast majority of Ukrainians are not fighting for racist reasons but because they were invaded. The world is complicated. And equating Palestine with Ukraine is not at all accurate.
Well I have some knowledge of the region too, and I have some Russian and Finnish background and connections as well. What you're saying isn't entirely accurate either. The land where modern Ukraine is now was called Little Russia in the past. People who lived there were Poles and Russians, as you correctly said, and their mixture. So where is Ukrainian national identity? Sounds like mixture of Polish and Russian ones to me. Same in modern Ukraine - Eastern Ukraine is populated by Russians, Western one by Ukrainians who are ethnically really close to Poles. There are also Hungarians here, but where are true Ukrainians??
I didn't say also that Ukraine is exactly like Palestine, but some similarities are striking. Western double standard on Ukraine-Russia just like on Israel-Palestine, ignoring HAMAS problem and Ukrainian Nazi problem, some problems with national identity of Palestinians who are in truth Arabs, and Ukrainians who are mix of Russians and Poles.
I have a deep respect for Poland and Poles by the way, tell it to your wife. In a big part that despite complex relationships between Poland and Russia and annexation of Poland by Stalin and Hitler together, Poles well remember the horrors of Holocaust and don't condone to Nazis unlike Ukrainians who also sided with Hitler back in WWII and I believe are guilty of massacre of Poles in Volhynia. See? I also know the history of the region and not just a 'propagandist'.
I also agree with you that this conflict us very complex and many things can be true at the same time. The reason why I had written it so bitterly and with strong anti-Ukrainian stance is not because I don't see this complexity or hate Ukraine or shill for Putin but because I wanted to counter Democratic Ukrainian warmongering propaganda, and the best way to do it is to be as strict in the opposite direction, to cause Insightful realization via shock reaction. But I can assure you I understand the complexity of situation and not taking sides here. Same as with Israel-Palestine - my point is to crush pro Pally narrative, to expose it's hypocrisy and Antisemitism and not to justify all Netanyahu actions.
It seems we are coming from different angles on what an identity is…stating that they are a border region between two empires or have been called “Little Russians” does not signify that they don’t have their own identity. They speak a different language that is neither Russian nor Polish, for example, and themselves feel that they are neither. They do have their own country and are proud of it. I can tell you that they feel so strongly that this is the case that Poland emptied of fighting-age Ukrainian men once the war began. They went back voluntarily to fight for what they see as their country. Low-wage workers in Poland were mostly Ukrainians. Now even the older men have gone back to Ukraine. I have many Russian friends, too, and have nothing at all against Russia. But an invasion is an invasion and Putin is the worst kind of tyrant. I pray for better leaders for the Russians and the Ukrainians. And for us!
Thanks for the compliments for Poland. They are indeed very brave and tend to stand up against all kinds of tyranny. I don’t know much about Finland but I think Russians are very strong, passionate, and have such beautiful literature and classical music. Very very beautiful ♥️
I really value trying to rid the world of propaganda by countering it with honesty. It doesn’t always work, but I have noticed that if people can trust each other to at least try our best to seek the truth, it’s much easier to have conversations. And conversation is ultimately the only alternative to violence.
"Ukraine has had its own identity at least since the 17th century" Doesn't explain why one of Ukraine's greatest writers, Nikolai Gogol, referred to Ukrainians as Little Russians. Some identity.
Exactly, there were just Little Russians, Poles and some Hungarians, never any Ukrainians.
The mere name Ukraine (Украина, окраина) roughly translates from Russian as an 'outskirts' meaning basically a periphery of Russian Empire back at the time.
It's completely made up nation and state. Perhaps that's why modern day Ukrainians are so sensitive about their national identity and so prone to ultra nationalism - because deep within they feel that their national identity is a fake one, and fiercely deny it.
To me “Little Russians” sounds like “not quite Russians”, which suggests a separate identity. I also just wonder why Ukrainians are willing to fight and die against such huge odds to keep their separate country and identity if they don’t have one? What do you see as their motivation?
Oh, I certainly don't defend Putin and his invasion. As far as I'm concerned, he deserves to be judged in Hague or in Russian High Court - not just for his invasion but for his countless crimes against his own people - his political opponents like Navalny, his former allies who saw through his lies like Prigozhin, Russian gays and liberal opposition whom he prosecutes, young Russian soldiers whom he sents to die and to kill in Ukraine, and Russian population in general whom he had subjected to unprecedented Western sanctions while he himself isn't harmed by them at all.
Speaking of his invasion, I don't believe it's solution to anything. Even if Putin does not believe in Ukrainian nation or wanted to get back Russian speaking Ukrainian regions like Donbass and Crimea, he might have approached it differently. He might have negotiated with Ukraine to buy Crimea and Donbass out, or to exchange them for some other land like Taganrog which used to be Ukrainian actually (Khrushchev had exchanged Taganrog for Crimea back in 60s). If Ukraine got Taganrog back, it would have gotten an access to Azov sea, while Russia would have gotten a buffer zone with vile Chechnya, so everyone would have been happy. There was no reason whatsoever to neither annex Crimea nor invade Ukraine, Putin might have solved both issues in countless other ways to suit everyone, not just himself at everyone's expense. So I do condemn Putin, make no mistake. My doubts about Ukrainian national identity are unrelated issue there and not part of Putin's propaganda to justify the invasion.
Thanks for kind words of Russians too! Finns are also strong, resilient, honest and loyal, on downside can be stubborn and sometimes cruel and disconnected from their emotions, Russians can be too emotional in the contrary. As a Russian Finnish I should have been balanced emotionally but alas I'm just alternating between Russian emotional outbursts and Finnish dead calmness lol. Either way I feel more American, love and speak English language more than both Russian and Finnish (though I know both of those languages natively and also learned some French), and love American freedom more than anything - alas both Russians and Finns don't have much freedom and don't appreciate it much either sadly...
It’s absolutely heartbreaking what Putin is doing to Russians, too, I agree. I wish they could be free of the tyranny. I was listening to a translation of the letter that Navalny wrote to a friend (I believe a famous writer who is Russian-Israeli). He wrote it from prison and said something along the lines that everyone thought they were done with the KGB and the tyranny with the USSR but it was never really gone. 💔 I watched a video from Russia of a guy just standing on the street with a blank sheet of paper, holding it like a placard. And the police arrest him. Because this was a protest about not being able to speak. Unbelievable.
Finns sound like they would make good friends! I have some Russian friends and they are also really great to have in your corner :) LOL about the emotional outbursts and the dead calm! I think that’s a similar combo to mine, being mostly Cajun but part German…you can imagine which is the dead calm, perfectionist part 😂
It’s hard to understand how people can not love freedom, as Americans, right? Can’t really wrap our heads around it. Of course, I’m not counting Marxist college students as Americans. But they renounced the USA so I see that as fair 😂
Yeah, the tragic part about Russia is that USSR and KGB never were really gone. Yeltsin 90s was just a brief masquerade to fool people both in Russia and in the West that they were gone, and when people bought it, KGB sneakily came back with Putin... I mean he literally WAS a former KGB agent! I immediately told people it bode nothing good to anyone already back in 2000 when he just set his foot into the Kremlin - the mere fact that he was a former KGB agent was enough for me to see the dark clouds ahead, but no one listened to me as usual, even if I was absolutely correct... So I'm used to not being listened to sadly - neither in Russia nor in Finland not in US lol. Well I'm happy people listen to me here on Substack at least.
Oh, those Woketards aren't proper Americans, ungrateful entitled kids. I think having a Russian background and remembering USSR I appreciate American freedom much more than them who don't know shit taking into account they cheer for places like Iran and Gaza where they'd be murdered, and shit on their homeland who had given them all their rights, freedoms and good life they don't appreciate enough. Stupid ungrateful idiots.
Those kids were entirely miseducated…it’s so bad. I maintain that if we had real education about history in this country, we wouldn’t have this issue with the Woke nuttos.
You know, it’s funny you’re bringing that up because I was just telling my wife the other day I distinctly remember that whole “Putin is the guy who is going to usher in true democracy in Russia” episode as my first early inkling that the “experts” either weren’t that smart or were not telling us what the real game was. I mean, how could anyone think a former KGB agent could believe in democracy? And I was just around 20 and not paying that close attention. It’s unbelievable anyone bought that line.
About Ukrainian national identity and why they feel so strongly about it if they don't have any, I have an interesting theory. I think ironically Putin had created their national identity or at least amplified it manifold by constantly meddling into Ukrainian affairs. The more Putin meddled, the stronger Ukrainian national identity became, up to Nazis and Russophobia even. I don't even judge Ukrainians for neither - I think no one likes when someone constantly interferes in their affairs. I certainly wouldn't have liked that too. And to cling to their own national identity as opposed to Russian one was the best way to confront Putin for them and not to give in to desperarion after Putin tried to destroy them, quite literally with his invasion. Does it sound plausible?
But did Ukrainians feel so strong about their national identity BEFORE Putin began to meddle into their affairs? Before his invasion, before Donbass separatism, before Crimea annexation, before Euromaidan? Not really. Ukrainians didn't feel so strongly about their national identity. They didn't feel themselves much different from Russians, especially Eastern Ukrainians. They perceived themselves rather like part of common Russian or Slavic culture to be more precise, than a separate Ukrainian nation. I still maintain that if not for Putin and his criminal meddling, there would have neither strong Ukrainian national identity nor Ukrainian Nazis.
Putin created a problem of Ukrainian Nazis HIMSELF and then used them to justify his invasion - his worst crime against Ukrainian people perhaps. Disgustingly cynical.
No doubt being pressured and then invaded by a massive neighbor would make anyone more passionate about defending themselves. In my experience with Ukrainians, though, there are regions that felt much closer to Russia, like Donbas and Crimea, where people spoke Russian as their mother tongue. I have a friend from Crimea and she told me that she felt more Russian than anything. But we have other friends from the center and west of the country and Ukrainian is their mother tongue and their grandparents speak that, everyone there does. And they feel they have never been exactly Russian. They felt Russians were like brothers, maybe, before this war. Also they were more turning towards the West than Russia before this all happened. They looked at the West and wanted our freedom and looked at Russia going back to authoritarianism and didn’t want that kind of life.
I have to says something on the Nazi thing, as it keeps coming up. My friends there, including ones from more Russian regions, say there is a Nazi kind of party in the country, that gets a tiny percentage of the vote: something around 1-3% if I recall correctly. That’s standard in Europe, though. Yes, Ukrainians had this brigade in WW2 that were actually Nazis. That doesn’t mean the ideology is popular now, any more than Germany being run by Hitler back then makes current Germans Nazis, if you see what I mean. There is obviously this actual Nazi brigade fighting with the Ukrainians now and being armed. That’s scary as hell and my friends aren’t happy about it. But they said…if you get jumped on the street and a dangerous guy you can’t stand helps you fight off your attackers, do you live to fight another day or do you turn down the help? It’s a hell of a choice.
Yeah I might not be judging Ukrainians as strictly for allowing Nazi brigades as Azov as I said, I judge more American Democrats who blissfully ignore this problem.
So do you think maybe to split Western and Eastern Ukraine might be a solution? Or to give the East to Russia if its people really want it? What's the point of Zelensky clinging to those parts when their people don't want him? Yeah I know there were borders defined by 1991, but tensions between East and West of Ukrainr never really disappeared, it might have been Lenin's mistake to lump those parts together to begin with. If Eastern and Western Ukraine were two different states all along, we might not have had all this shit now.
To me, that seems to potentially make sense to let the eastern areas that vote for it in a carefully monitored election go to Russia, if they so choose. But I could imagine there may be strategic military reasons or resource reasons why that would be unacceptable to either Ukraine or Russia or both. It may not be sheer pride or anger holding them back.
It was Hamas (Gaza) that attacked Israel
I didn't say situations are totally the same, and I didn't justify Putin's invasion either.
But currently Russia wars in Ukraine and Israel - in Gaza. And similarly nothing is forgiven to Israel and Russia, and everything is forgiven to Ukraine and Palestine, up to Nazis and terror.
Perhaps I Don’t agree with the direct comparison, but what is now not discussed was that Israel contested the American led political and fiscal takeover of the Ukraine until pressurised by America to fall in line. After the conflict in Ukraine blew up, Russia back-channelled supplies, weapons and money through Iran & Qatar to Hamas which led to the Oct7th massacre. Russia had been making soft overtures to Israel for closer link in a strategic move in the middle-east, so this can been seen as a form of immoral retribution.
So you believe Putin might be behind October 7th massacre indirectly? Interesting, but still, why? Israel was the only Western ally which wasn't sending lethal weapons to Ukraine and didn't join all the anti-Russian sanctions either, so why would Putin fuck this up?
Russia was courting Israel for soft relations but they were insincerely doing so and wished to remove western influence on key issues. Ultimately the balance of power in the middle east has been slowly taken over by China & Russia, not to be mistaken for the alliance known as BRICS, this alliance is about China becoming a world power and Russia ruling the northern Arabic territories remotely with a new trade front and oil dynamic to challenge Saudi oil. Does Russia care what happen to Gaza? No. Does Russia care that much about Israel? No. This conflict has been about oil, US hegemony and the rise of China. America has admittedly done an underhand thing strategically cutting off the Ukraine. Russia couldn't attack America directly, so Russia had to choose an ally of the US that it could manipulate indirectly. Missiles, weapons, munitions and funds all flow from a Russian spigot whether they be Lebanon, Iran, Houthi or Hamas. We all need to realise that there is a case for the US acting both illegally and aggressively in the Ukraine, the conflict there was intentionally designed by 2 recently resigned deputies of the CIA and State dept. However morally we can all agree 600k dead in southern Russia/Ukraine as well as thousands dead in Gaza and Israel are the direct result of US strategic military aggression. It remains to be seen if this was the correct thing in the long run (personally I feel it was wrong), but the dislocation of the media coverage over these realities in the media is very intentional. If it were to be communicated accurately the silent majority in the west would halt the conflict completely, and we couldn't just see maladjusted woke activists coming to the defence of terrorist and a middle class assuming Russia to be in the wrong. Also to note another key was the Abraham accords which didnt suit Iran, the Houthis, Lebanon, Russia or China. Saudi and many other middle eastern states agreeing to trade with Israel solidifying peace was not only a modernising progression in trade, but an act that would undermine religious fundamentalism in the middle east that affords power to warlord expansionists who wish to see a minor Caliphate return in the region. This was a major political coup for Trump which he would have backed up by building reasonble relations with Russia separating them from Chinese influence (or diluting it at least). Bidens gov was happy to facilitate the undermining of this with aggression which was a plan cooked up by the American establishment Trump was not fully on board with. Interestingly the plan was an extension of Iraq2, of which those 2 deputies were highly involved in. This has now failed, hence the resignations. The war in the Ukraine can not be won. The US may continue to sue for peace with Gaza but the offerings though reasonable can not be agreed to and both sides know this. Ultimately peace is achievable with Russia, though much more likely with Trump it is inevitable with both the Dems and Reps. the suspicion is that the Dems will talk peace with Gaza but look for its complete destruction, which again Trump may actually look for a real deal here.. but given the timing, Hamas will be all but destroyed on the ground by September. Hamas will end up being rebranded by its leaders in Qatar and Lebanon who will have personally profited by the conflict, as will have the leaders of the Ukraine who may one day return home. Interestingly Ukrainian leadership have been buying a lot of US property with the funds they received recently. That is telling.
A very interesting analysis actually, I agree with a lot of points. I also believe we need to take Russia away from Chinese influence and to restore good relations between Europe and Russia, same as between Saudis and Israel. It's the only way to long term peace and end of both Chinese Communist and Islamist fundamentalist influence. That's why both Ukrainian and Gaza war are that bad - they undermine both those good processes and increase Islamist and Communist influence. Democrats had done very badly here.
But what your predictions about both wars again? If Trump wins, he'd make peace in Ukraine and restore relations with Russia? What if Biden would cheat his way to victory, what's then?
What's about Gaza also? You believe HAMAS would be destroyed anyway but then Qatar and Lebanon bring it back to life?
Russia has to be satiated and they know it. I suspect Trump would engage straight away, and get a better deal. If Biden steals the election then they will probably wait till halfway through his second term and have protracted negotiations within which the real risk will be Iran acting on Israel strategically obo Russia and China. There are a lot of inherent risks with the latter.
Hamas will rebrand and the leaders will most probably engage in Lebanon, Iran and on the south coast in setting up command (Maybe Afghanistan too if Russia does a deal).. but I think Iraq will be the second largest target with a fresh primary attack coming on Europe and America. So we can expect some trouble on the streets this summer, but either way, Trump or Biden; the cat is out of the box and in 2 years we are going to have real issues at home.
So shit will hit the fan either way then. Well, at least HAMAS would be destroyed and peace in Ukraine would be achieved.
But what do you mean of Iraq though? Iran would make it its main proxy and then US would invade Iraq again to prevent a new escalation on Israel?