I have been making medical visits to Ukraine for thirty years, and although I do not speak the language I probably have a deeper understanding of the country and its problems than most people in the West. Before training to be a doctor, I had studied twentieth century Russian history at Oxford University.
In the past I would come back from my medical trips to Kyiv and Lviv and tell people “Ukraine is a really important country – the frontier between western freedom and Russian slavery”. I was usually met by blank expressions – most people thought that Ukraine was simply a small and unimportant part of Russia.
All that, of course, has now changed. All the world knows about Ukraine – it has become the most important country on the planet – if you believe in freedom and decency, that is. The ghastly truth about Putin, his soldiers and his many supporters, has become very clear. It is a terrible thought that we might have to live in a world in which Putin has not been defeated. Anything less than Ukrainian victory means the triumph of lies, mass murder, rape, forced deportations and looting – in short, of evil.
It is very hard to know how much further the West will go in supporting Ukraine – for instance, whether it will send heavy artillery and anti-ship missiles. I am afraid you must remember how many people in America still believe in Trump and in France in Marie LePen. And there is Orban in Hungary. The Tory party in the UK – the political party of the government – received millions of dollars over the years from Russian oligarchs, even though it is now sending weapons to Ukraine.
The UK government has been very slow to sanction the Russian oligarchs and has not seized their billions of dollars’ worth of houses and palaces in the UK. There is plenty of evidence that Putin gave financial support to the Brexit campaign, just as he did his best to influence the Presidential elections in the US and lent money to Marie le Pen. Many politicians in the West are still entangled with the Russians kleptocrats, just as their boss intended.
Western governments are genuine democracies, and unlike Putin with his false democracy, they depend for their power on their electorates. Even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, world food and energy prices were rising steeply. The war in Ukraine is going to push up prices even further, especially if Russian gas and energy imports were blocked. Ultimately, the extent of Western support for Ukraine will depend on economics, on the price of food and central heating and air conditioning. The comfort of the West will be paid for in Ujrainian blood.
NATO will not become directly involved. I doubt if NATO believes Putin’s veiled threats about nuclear weapons – the man is perfectly rational, just evil and vile – but the fear is that war between NATO and Russia could easily spin out of control and become nuclear. So there is no limit as to how many people Putin will have murdered or raped, and his forces may well be using chemical weapons already. Putin knows this, which is why nothing other than military defeat in Donbas will stop him.
Everybody I know in England, and all the media, are horrified by what is going on in Ukraine. It is closer than Chechnya, or Syria or Yemen, but ultimately not profoundly different from them. I fear that they do not understand how Putin and Russian is a profound threat to all the world, and not just to Ukraine. In the final analysis they will be more concerned about the short-term cost of living rather than the long-term cost of freedom.
Ukraine is paying the price of everybody’s freedom and it has already been a terrible price and will get worse.
Western governments have their hands tied behind their backs by the fear of nuclear war and the fear of the effect on their electorates of rising prices.
The only hope is that the limited support the West is giving Ukraine combined with the extraordinary bravery and skill of the Ukrainian army will defeat Putin.
We have a moral duty to be optimistic. If we lose hope, we will give in, and then evil will certainly triumph.
Henry Marsh
neurosurgeon and bestselling author
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/columns/2022/04/19/7340599/
“The only hope is that the limited support the West is giving Ukraine combined with the extraordinary bravery and skill of the Ukrainian army will defeat Putin.”
Should be no hoping about it. The West have encouraged Putler to invade Ukraine with their collective cowardice. Even now, the west won’t give Ukraine the weapons needed to defeat this pure evil called Russia.
Even after the horror of Bucha and the unfolding evil of Mariupol, they are still dragging their feet.
Ukraine must win in Donbas. Stalemate is no use. They must have powerful offensive weapons NOW.
This guy speaks my language:
“The ghastly truth about Putin, his soldiers and his many supporters, has become very clear. It is a terrible thought that we might have to live in a world in which Putin has not been defeated. Anything less than Ukrainian victory means the triumph of lies, mass murder, rape, forced deportations and looting – in short, of evil.”
Absolutely right.
But then he spoils it somewhat by petty party politics; revealing his Labour affiliations. He says the Tories “received millions of dollars over the years from Russian oligarchs…”
Ok name them then. No putlerite scum donated to the Tories. Wealthy Russians did, such as Boris’s friend Evgeny Lebedev, but he has repeatedly shown himself to be anti-putler.
On the other hand, the writer forgets to mention that until recently, the official opposition: Labour, was run by an evil IRA-loving Marxist; Corbyn, who is so keen on putler that he even worked for RaT.
Funnily enough he also forgets to mention another Labourite putler shill: Peter Mandelson, who was always so keen on the champagne and caviar provided by turds like Deripaska on their luxury yachts.
“There is plenty of evidence that Putin gave financial support to the Brexit campaign.”
Really? He seems a bit shy to present that evidence thought doesn’t he?
Although it can definitely be said that Nigel Farage; another RaT employee, is without doubt a Russian agent who should hang. But then he is ex-ukip; a RuSSian owned shitshow.
I agree. It was a good article but then he pollutes it with petty politics. Frankly I don’t care if you’re Tory or labor, Republican or Democrat, east or west, everyone participated in Putin’s megalomania and scum sucking activities.
Yes it is sad when the political addicts drag politics into a national security issue. They deserve shame. Ukraine has been bipartisan for years in the US despite attempts from both sides to make it political. If slow Joe doesn’t get heavy, long-distance weapons to Ukraine asap this massive war will drag into the midterm elections and that will be bad for the ruling party.