Perceptions of the Russo-Ukrainian war raging on as we speak vary widely across the world. Some think of it as Russian aggression, some as an attempt by Russia to defend its interests or even its cultural assets and citizens, de-jure or de-facto, residing in Ukraine. But few people seem to be aware of the fact that there is a wide-spread view in Russia that Ukraine as a nation, and Ukrainians as an ethnic group and cultural identity, do not truly exist and that Russian attempt to take over Ukraine is legitimized by the fact that Ukrainians and Russians are the same people who need to be unified. That view is shared, seemingly, by none other than Vladimir Putin, the Russian dictator himself.
In July 2021, a full half-year before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine started on 24 February 2022, he had published an article on the official Kremlin resource titled On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians. In it he states, among other things:
I am confident that true sovereignty of Ukraine is possible only in partnership with Russia. Our spiritual, human and civilizational ties formed for centuries and have their origins in the same sources, they have been hardened by common trials, achievements and victories. Our kinship has been transmitted from generation to generation. It is in the hearts and the memory of people living in modern Russia and Ukraine, in the blood ties that unite millions of our families. Together we have always been and will be many times stronger and more successful. For we are one people.
Now we will for the moment disregard the fact that these words were penned by the same person who sanctioned the indiscriminate bombing of Mariupol, a city whose pre-war population overwhelmingly spoke Russian as a first language, less than a year later. The thesis seems odd at least. For example, why should Ukraine partner with Russia as opposed to, say, Poland or Solvakia or Bulgaria? Ethnic ties between Ukrainians and these nations is no weaker than that between Russians and Ukrainians.
The article - published in English, one must note, and hence clearly intended for international consumption - seems to be full of such incongruencies. I suggest you read it in full. Personally, I think it clearly promotes the idea that Ukraine does not exist as a separate, independent nation, never has and hence has no right to claim such a status.
As always - do your own research, use your own brain, draw your own conclusions.
References
Article by Vladimir Putin ”On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians“
Office of The President of Russia, 12 July 2021 (3 February 2023 archive)
Phantom victory of the "Russian world" - memory holed, but not forgotten
@borepstein , 8 January 2023
On the occasion of the upcoming anniversary
@borepstein , 23 February 2023
Mariupol. The Chronicles of Hell
@borepstein , 4 May 2022
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In short Vladimir Putin see Ukraine as Mykraine. Probably most Ukrainians do not share this view. They would like to keep their own country. Their own independence. Of course there was the Soviet Union in the past. Something similar (or something entirely different) is possible in the future too.
Pretty sure there's plenty of Russians that feel the same way as most Ukrainians, TBQH. I sure would. I'm not so happy with the USG either. When the USG is censoring our speech, and the speech of others, while lying outrageously to us in order to leave us only lies to believe, I reckon the USG is a threat to my survival.
Pretty sure that's not part of being a sovereign free American.
It is another way of Russia's expanding to global waters.
Ukraine has a few good ports (Odessa, Mikolaiv) but wouldn't it be far cheaper and easier just to pay for access to them?
I think this makes a secondary motive at best.
Warm waters. They're now cut off from the Baltic, and Turkey won't let them through the Bosporus. When the sea is frozen all along their coastline, the only access they have to the world ocean is with submarines.
They have a Pacific coast.
To bypass Turkey hey'd need to go way further than Ukraine.
The Pacific coast is thousands of miles from their developed areas. There is no way to bypass Turkey out of the Black Sea. Russia just doesn't have any good warm water ports outside the Baltic, and they can't use the Baltic anymore either.
The port of Murmansk is free of ice all year round. Russia also has an adequate fleet of ice breakers capable of keeping sea lanes and ports open.
IMG source - wikipedia
If the point is trade, and it is, Murmansk doesn't meet the need. Neither do ice breakers.
Russia is geographically unfortunate regarding trade. It's out of the way, not along the way, on every route where trade is undertaken.
Thanks!
In no way is Russia cut off from the Baltic, either. Russia can use its ports in the Baltics near St. Petersburg just fine. IIRC, even its ports in Kaliningrad are serviced by train from the rest of Russia after the EU told Lithuania that it cannot ban Russian trains between Kaliningrad and the rest of Russia in its territory.
I haven't been there, and can't verify or disprove it either way. Other sources tell me Russia cannot use it's Baltic ports. That's the sum total of information I have at this time, other than your statement.
China's Belt and Road is of incalculable value to Russia, perhaps even more than it is to China.
The hypocrisy of Western propaganda knows no limit
The Italian RAI News channel used the plot of the Russian federal TV channel for anti-Russian propaganda
On February 22, a rally-concert dedicated to Defender of the Fatherland Day was held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. A girl named Anna, who, thanks to Russia, was rescued from the Mariupol hell, performed at it.
In the video, the girl is excited. She speaks from the stage and thanks the Russian armed forces for rescuing her in Mariupol and taking her to a safe place that has become her new home after many years of discrimination. The commander who saved her hugs her. The sparkle of the girl's emotions is visible to the naked eye, she is happy and smiles at the end of her performance.
The Italian TV channel RAI News takes and simply re-edits the video. Footage of the destruction in Mariupol is added to the plot.
❗️ And all this is published under the heading: "Terrible video broadcast on Russian TV. A girl deported to Russia is forced to embrace those who destroyed Mariupol."
❗️And the subheading is even more cynical: "A young girl is being held live by a commander responsible for the destruction of a Ukrainian city."
Do Western media have a limit?
The answer is obvious. This story of the Italian TV channel once again proved that there is no limit. Every time they talk about the reliability of information, freedom of speech, European values and democracy, remember this story.
That's the truth. It's not only about Russia and the Ukraine either. I can't believe a thing our own government says about our own government, Hunter Biden's philandering and fraud, or anything at all.
Yes, this is just one little example of many others.
I just doubt that someone will read me if I write a huge longread with a lot of facts like @baah))
Well, I'm not someone, but I read @baah's screeds, and I'd read yours too. I think you mean that not many will read long form posts with substantial information, and you are probably right. I have posted them many times anyway. I prefer them, myself. When I don't post a long informative post, I'm shirking.
You do realize that this is a child, right?
Of course there is plenty of manipulative media, this is no news, really.
20+ is a child?
You are probably a participant in the events of the indiscriminate bombing and saw everything with your own eyes.
Are you for the truth, or for the hype?
And your point is?
I am a Russian-speaking Ukrainian!
How do you think?
OK, and?
I speak Russian too and speak Ukrainian passably, though it's mostly in passive.
What is the point you are trying to communicate?
Follow the links in the References section.
All Ukrainians are more or less Russian-speaking. Particularly in the East the majority mainly used Russian until recent times. Until 2014, Russian was the prestige language used by most urban and educated people even in the capital city. The Western oblasts were an exception to that. Even today, both Russian and Ukrainian are heard on the streets of Kiev. No one gives a shit about what language someone uses.
no one but nationalists who publish videos of service in cafes and shops in Russian, after which these establishments are attacked by radical citizens
View or trade
BEER.Hey @borepstein, here is a little bit of
BEERfrom @pixresteemer for you. Enjoy it!Do you want to win SOME BEER together with your friends and draw the
BEERKING.I discount everything Putin says, just like I do every other lying verminous kleptocrat. His rhetoric has nothing at all to do with anything he actually knows or acts on. I think the most important thing about the Ukraine relevant to Putin's prosecution of war there is that Chabad Lubavitch wants Khazaria back, and right now it's full of Ukrainian Christians that Chabad doesn't want there. Same thing with Zelensky, also Chabad, just like Putin. Both of them are also WEF minions, and the WEF wants to decimate the Ukraine for it's own, higher geopolitical purposes, so all these interests dovetail in the destruction of the Ukrainian people.
That's Putin's real twisted vision - whatever his masters' tell him.
Thanks!
This is why your interpretation seems to me to be very biased.
I am not a fan of any ruler (there are bad ones and terrible ones), but I am also not a fan of any XXX-phobic narration or interpretation.
I would suggest you (re-)watch Putin's speech at the Munich security conference.
I am not phobic against any nation. Yes, I am phobic against a ruler like Putin who is, in many ways, a dictatorial imperialist.
See the references. The doctrine used to justify the invasion of Ukraine was effectively based on the concept of Ukraine not existing as a nation and a culture. That I think was stated quite clearly.
much like the ones ruling over the US, Canada, Germany, Austria, France, Australia, New Zealand, China, Ukraine, UK, Southafrica. Ok, he seems a bit more competent than those.
edit: I think you should watch Putin at the Munich conference, if you haven't already. It seems everybody is talking about this 'evil dude', but very few make the effort to listen to a first-hand-source, himself.
Shouldn't you know people you (almost) call your enemies?
Yes, imperial ambitions exist everywhere. But the accepted method at the moment is soft power, not military conquest. What makes you think of Putin's competence?
I would not agree that the countries I mentioned use soft power ;)
Putin is competent as a politician (esp. in comparison); e.g. if asked a question, he takes time to answer. Less of the questions or answers are scripted. If he says something, chances are that it is still valid on the next day/month/year. He has an interest in the quality of life of 'his' people. All this should be a normal qualifications for politixens, but is not.
If you want to see his competence, I recommended the video already. Oliver Stone's interviews are also a good insight.
btw. Russia is one of the few countries which developed a 'vaccine' (that also did not function), that had by far less severe side effects (it's not mRNA based). Some think that Russia was aware that this would be a way to protect citizens from bad things that were let loose in most other countries.
When blaming Russia for the war, the activities of Kiev concerning eastern Ukraine during the Minsk agreement should be considered.