Ukraine, a European democratic country of 44 million people and a former republic of the USSR was invaded by the Russian Federation on February 24, 2022. The Russian forces are on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. For the last many months, the Russian strong man, Vladimir Putin, had denied that he would invade his neighbour. But he tore up a peace deal and unleashed his armed forces from the north-east and south.
The coming days are fraught with danger and suspense for the continent of Europe and the world at large. Putin addressed his country on TV before the pre-dawn full-scale invasion and declared that Russia could not feel “safe, develop and exist” because of what he thought was a constant threat from Ukraine. An air offensive was launched, first hitting airports, military headquarters, and then the land offensive from three sides. By February 27, Putin created panic in the western capitals by issuing a new threat to western democracies when he ordered Russian armed forces to put its nuclear forces on high alert. Just before that, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to talks with Russia without any preconditions.
Western powers are now uniting and standing by Ukraine. The EU has closed its airspace to all Russian flights and has agreed to finance the purchase of weapons.
Putin is trying to save his own tottering regime. He accused Ukraine of being taken over by extremists, which is nothing but a blatant lie. He started this campaign when his puppet pro-Russian President Victor Yanukoyych was toppled in 2014 after many months of unrest in Ukraine.
Many reasons for the war between Russian and Ukraine remain murky. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s arguments are totally irrational and based on falsehood. He claimed that he wanted to protect people from genocide and aim for the “Demilitarization and De-Nazification” of Ukraine. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
There has never been any genocide in Ukraine, no religious minority has ever suffered any victimization or violence. Ukraine is a vibrant functioning secular democracy, and it is led by a Jewish President Volodymr Zelensky, who is right in asking, “How could I be a Nazi?”
The Jewish community, and Ukraine’s chief rabbi have also categorically rejected the ridiculous claims of Putin.
This invasion and its planning now appear to be a repeat of the game played by Adolf Hitler in 1930s -- first the bitter campaign of hatred and violence against the Jewish population of Germany, the bloody onslaught on Jewish businesses and homes or the infamous Kristallnacht, and finally the attack on Poland in September 1939 that plunged the world into the horrors of the World War II.
Putin is trying to save his own tottering regime. He accused Ukraine of being taken over by extremists, which is nothing but a blatant lie. He started this campaign when his puppet pro-Russian President Victor Yanukoyych was toppled in 2014 after many months of unrest in Ukraine. Putin went ahead and seized the southern region of Crimea that resulted in a rebellion in the East. He also backed and supported the separatists fighting the Ukraine army in a war that has claimed 14,000 lives. By 2021, Putin deployed his army on the borders with Ukraine and kept repeating that he had no intention of invading Ukraine. He then scrapped the 2015 peace deal and recognized all areas under rebel control as independent countries. Russia has resisted Ukraine to get close to western democracies and become a member of the NATO. He accused the NATO of “Threatening our historic future as a nation”.
The present scenario is a nightmare for the people of Ukraine. A horror movie for the continent of Europe. It appears to be a repeat of the 1930s, when Europe witnessed a major European power invading a smaller neighbour. Now Ukraine is becoming a dangerous nuclear flash point. Thousands have died. The war is dubbed as “Putin’s war” by Germany. For the European countries, this invasion has triggered memories of the darkest days of the 1940s. France’s Emmanuel Macron calls it a turning point in European history. Olaf Scholz of Germany has voiced a dire warning that “Putin wants a Russian empire” and a return to the Cold War days of the USSR.
This is not a popular war for a majority of the Russian people. It is definitely Putin’s War. The invasion was rubber stamped by an unrepresentative upper house of the Russian parliament.
Ukrainian President has warned of a new iron curtain falling and isolating Russia from the civilized world. This is not a popular war for a majority of the Russian people. It is definitely Putin’s War. The invasion was rubber stamped by an unrepresentative upper house of the Russian parliament. The countries bordering Ukraine, such as Poland, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, and Slovakia, are seeing a big influx of refugees. The EU estimates that more than seven million people may be displaced.
In the 1930s, when Hitler was on the march, Britain and France had adopted a policy of appeasement in the hope of containing Hitler and preventing war. Now the NATO has made it clear that it has no plans to interfere or send any combat troops to Ukraine. So far, the EU member countries have sent weapons and field hospitals. The western democracies led by the US are targeting Russia’s economy, banks and individuals. The EU, US, UK, Japan and Canada are cutting off key Russian banks from the international Swift payment network, which allows the smooth and rapid transfer of money across borders. Personal sanctions are being imposed on President Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by the US, EU and UK, while 351 Russian MPs are being targeted by the EU.
The world waits with bated breath for a peaceful end to this drama in the heart of Europe.