Russia Invasion of Ukraine

Recent history has shown that regardless of its political form of government, regime or leader, Russia has been and remains intent on maintaining or restoring its empire – its prison of nations. This has been the contention of Ukrainian and other x-captive nations’ freedom-living leaderships for decades, if not longer.

Through subterfuge or outright invasion and repression, Russia has tightly held on to its captive nations. Moscow has never accepted the fact that Ukraine and other Eastern European countries managed to break free of its shackles by 1991 and have attempted to chart their own independent courses.

With Ukraine, Russia has relentlessly sought to undermine any pro-Ukrainian, independence-minded government, ultimately bringing to power its flunky Viktor Yanukovych, who not only sought to tie Ukraine to Russia but also he and his minions in and out of government emptied the country’s coffers.

While Russia was publicly planning the Olympic farce in Sochi, Putin was also planning his hitlerite invasion and subjugation of Ukraine while Yanukovych was busy destabilizing the armed forces of Ukraine. Accession to the European Union in 2013 would have been Ukraine’s peaceful salvation but that was not to be had because the forces of evil were planning another solution.

Yanukovych reneged on accession in the last minute which provoked the people – mostly young people – to take to the streets in an attempt to topple him and Russian influence in Ukraine along with several Lenin monuments. Fortunately the Maidan protests were stronger but unfortunately more costly. More than 100 including adults, students and youth were killed by government sharpshooters.

Like a cunning rat, Yanukovych either sensed that his days were number or he merely accepted Putin’s advice, and he planned his escape but not before he transferred millions upon millions of dollars to banks outside of Ukraine. He then secretly left Ukraine before the Maidan protests ended in mid-January 2014.

Then in quick succession Ukraine transitioned from protests to revolution to an undeclared war with Russia. Moscow occupied, subjugated and annexed Crimea despite global indignation while cynically welcoming the world to the Olympic Games in Sochi. Then Russia invaded eastern Ukraine and turned the eastern and southern regions into a bloody battleground again despite global indignation.

Moscow claimed that it was defending the rights of Russian speakers in Ukraine but that contention was quickly disproven by many sources because more than half of the Maidan martyrs were Russian speaking Ukrainians and Ukrainian defenders in eastern Ukraine are Russian speakers.

The regular Ukrainian army, the volunteer National Guard and several volunteer battalions have been keeping the Russian terrorists at bay, preventing them from crossing the country and invading Poland, Lithuania or Slovakia. Ukraine’s Eastern European neighbors have been aghast by Russia’s overt aggression against Ukraine and have urged NATO to step in and defend their independence lest Ukraine’s fate also befalls them. The United Nations and the European Union gratefully have stood up on Ukraine’s side.

Despite global indignation and sanctions, Russia has not withdrawn its forces from Ukraine. It has sent in tanks and armored attack vehicles to continue the invasion and killings. Brave Ukrainian defenders are protecting their homeland against foreign invaders.

Without US, EU and global support, Ukraine would be sooner or later overrun by Russia and generations to come would debate who lost Ukraine.

Contemporary global leaders should not disparage the fact that Russia has exposed itself for what it has always been – an international pariah, a threat to world peace and stability, and a danger to freedom-loving people everywhere.

The last battleground between good and evil is taking place today between Ukraine and Russia.