Putin Moves Against Ukraine

On February 24, 2022, Vladimir Putin, the President of the Russian Federation, sent Russian forces into the neighboring state of Ukraine. It was an evil act, brazen in its brutality and overt in its recklessness, but certainly not an act that could be seen as out of keeping with Putin's long record of brutal, reckless actions. A well-known record that, until now, had been generally accepted, and sometimes even lauded, by people in the United States and Europe.

It is difficult to say what dark motives have prompted Putin to invade Ukraine at this particular time, but he undoubtedly seeks to expand Russia's dominion, and desires to reclaim the territories that were lost to Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. If that is Putin's actual intention, it will come with a high cost. Already, six days into the war, a considerable degree of harm has been done to Russia's standing as a nation, and further harm is likely to ensue.

Citizens in Western countries have responded to the situation in Ukraine with a shameless outpouring of hypocrisy and delusion. They have eagerly condemned Russia, crudely depicting Vladimir Putin as an erratic madman, while conveniently forgetting the many comparable actions of deliberate bloodshed undertaken (either directly or indirectly) by the United States and NATO against civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Syria, Somalia, and Yemen.

Most reports in the West portray Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, as a staunch defender of freedom and democracy, but in truth, he is a figure of deep corruption who came to power by catering to Nazis and serving the interests of Igor Kolomoyskyi, a Ukrainian billionaire. Zelenskyy is merely another shady player in a game of worldwide avarice, a game in which the only winners are those underhanded few who are able to maintain their extreme wealth.

Putin's assault on Ukraine is wrong and unforgivable. However, when judged by any honest standard, it is no more wrong and no more unforgivable than the heinous assaults on small nations that Western governments regularly carry out. If those in the West who denounce Putin's violations in Ukraine want to be heard as voices of integrity, they are obliged to also denounce the violations that have been, and continue to be, committed by their own governments.

The war in Ukraine has nothing to do with freedom and nothing to with democracy. It is, instead, a grievous instance of business as usual for murderous capitalism: one gang of capitalist villains pitilessly waging a savage war of greed against another gang of capitalist villains, with the helpless masses of Ukraine inevitably having to suffer the full brunt of the unrelenting violence. Under such conditions, the prospect is grim, and there is little hope of Ukraine finding peace.