Volodymyr Kukharenko

Helping translation companies to automate business and project management | ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕠𝕤 𝕋𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝔹𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕄𝕒𝕟𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕊𝕪𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕞

National Technical University of Ukraine ‘Kyiv Polytechnic Institute’  

Protemos

Ukraine 

Oct 1st, 2025

You know what the most stupid scene in action movies is? It’s when the protagonist fights the villain, almost defeats them, but doesn’t finish them off, instead says, “I’m not like you,” shows mercy, and even turns their back. Of course, the villain rises, makes a last attempt, and somehow the hero senses it, dodges the attack, and the villain falls into the abyss and breaks their neck, or falls onto the hero’s sword/gun/whatever, leaving the hero “not guilty” of murder.

Every time I watch this, I ask the protagonist: “Are you an idi0t?” There is nothing noble in being stupid. If you are dead, your principles won’t survive you. The executioner won’t suddenly understand you in your last moments, and the crowd won’t be enlightened by your sacrifice unless it was already ready for it.

You can’t apply morality to someone who doesn’t have it. You can’t play by the rules against someone who breaks them. When the rules are destroyed, do whatever protects you. If someone comes to rob you, make them pay. If someone comes to kill you, you shouldn’t worry about whether they survive your counter-action. Eliminating the threat is what matters; if you can’t do it within the framework of your rules, then those are losers’ rules.

“But then what’s the difference between you and them?” many would ask. The fundamental difference is defending what is yours versus trying to take what isn’t, the difference between aggressor and victim. Your house, your family, your land, your country. Everyone knows those are yours; there are documents proving it.

Russia has been bombing Ukraine’s power-generation facilities for years. We lived and worked in the dark and cold, but we were told not to retaliate because “poor Russian civilians will suffer.” Russia has been launching drones into the EU, yet they are not always shot down because EU politicians “aren’t sure it’s the right move,” and they don’t even consider sending similar drones back to Russia, it’s outside their frame of thinking. Russia destroyed a large part of the Ukrainian economy, but the EU won’t use frozen Russian assets to arm or rebuild Ukraine because “the reputation of banks may suffer.” There are many videos showing torture and murder by Russians, yet some people still judge Ukrainians who refuse to speak Russian or interact with Russians, even call them “N@zis”.

Sometimes I wonder what would happen if we were much stronger than Russia and could destroy it without help. I bet a great part of Western society would arrange pro-Russian demonstrations, because we would be breaking Barbie Land rules, according to which we should behave like that protagonist in movies.

Russia is a criminal state and should be treated as such. Your rules should not apply to them because they do not follow rules. Otherwise, you pay with Ukrainian blood for your rules. And I wonder, would you keep paying that price if it were your blood?