I’m indebted to Hannes Fassold, who used his LinkedIn page to remind us of a rather significant letter.
It was originally published in EURACTIV on May 4, 2022. The original article is behind a subscription wall :
A letter from a Russian friend:
But Hannes has published the whole letter. It’s quite short, but right on point:-
“I received a short letter from a friend from Russia with a request to publish it, hoping that at least part of the world public will hear a Russian voice whose opinion differs from the narrative dictated by the Kremlin. Of course, he can’t publish his views in his country because the danger of reprisal is real. Here is the letter:
“Nowadays, many are wondering what happened to Russia and how to solve it. Let me explain to you that nothing happened to Russia. You are witnessing “normal” Russia. Russia has always been like this and will remain so as long as Russia is Russia.
Russian nationalism was always present in Russian society, even during the Soviet days. Just like people in America have degrading jokes about rednecks, similarly, even during the Soviet days, the people from the Russian republic of the USSR had many insulting jokes about people from Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus, and the minorities that were a part of the Russian republic of the USSR.
Russian society has always been anti-Semite and chauvinist and has had resistance and prejudice against all different and alien ethnicities and nations. The unity was always held with force and terror was always imposed by the government. All territories that now comprise Russian Federation were acquired by force, bribery, or both. Imperial Russia added more territories, Soviet Russia added more territories, and today’s Russia is adding territories.
A few examples: Imperial Russia occupied north Caucasus tribes, Russia occupied Chinese territory, and Soviet Russia attacked and seized Finnish territories.
What today’s Russia does in Ukraine is the same as what Soviet Russia did in Finland. Russia was and still is an occupier.
Russia cannot be a decent democratic state because a decent democratic state will not be able to hold the territories Russia already has.
Russia attacked Ukraine dominantly because Russia needed to exercise the Russian world narrative. The current Russian doctrine perceives Ukraine as a breakaway region that must remain under Russian control. If Ukraine succeeds in escaping Russian dominance, other regions and republics like Kazan and North Caucasus might try the same.
The global community must understand that ongoing madness and aggression will only grow if Russia succeeds in Ukraine. Russia will not stop. Russia can only be stopped.
The West must stop Russia in Ukraine, and the West must disintegrate Russia, so that Russia will not attack ever again.”
From May 4, 2022
Euractive
Damn good advice from Mr X.
Now, honourable western leaders; if there are any:
Go all out against russia’s war machine, including its enablers. Put a boot on the throat of its economy and choke it to death.
The way to achieve the above is well known, so I won’t repeat it yet again.
Timothy Snyder:
Dear Friends, from time to time I will use this space to discuss a new book. My essay today serves as a foreword to Julia Davis’s new book on Russian television propagandists, In Their Own Words, which I heartily recommend to you.
https://snyder.substack.com/p/in-their-own-words
“The global community must understand that ongoing madness and aggression will only grow if Russia succeeds in Ukraine. Russia will not stop. Russia can only be stopped.”
Far too many creatures on this planet do not see the true mafia land as it is. We have them in the US, Europe has them, the global south, India, China, and so forth. They come as individuals, political parties, companies, politicians, artists, and even churches.
As freedom-loving democratic people, we must stick together to ward off the rise of fascism, aggression, and general injustice.