We saw some political drama in Ukraine this week over the anti-corruption legislation. We saw protests and Zelenskyy reacting to it, and in the course of that we found out that Ukraine still has a corruption problem. Ukraine is not perfect and Zelenskyy is not unchallenged.
So what?
Russia is even more corrupt. Russia is waging a war of genocide, attacking neighbors and western countries either directly or through hybrid or electronic warfare. Putin prevents any challengers from rising up against him.
So if we say—as I’ve read in some comments in newspapers—that Ukraine isn’t perfect and so we shouldn’t help it, I don’t understand the logic.
I’ve seen so many comments recently, not to my videos, but to news articles that say, “Oh, Saint Zelenskyy isn’t so saintly.” No one said he’s a saint. He’s a politician. “Oh, Ukraine still has corruption.” Well, we know that has been a problem. We know that this is something that Ukraine has committed to solving.
Ukraine is in a war and was attacked for no reason. Ukraine is innocent in this matter.
Addressing Common Objections
I’ve been encountering this from day one. “Yeah, there were these attacks on Russians in Odessa.” Well, that may well have been, and Ukraine wanted to deal with it. None of this justifies a war.
“Oh, there are some people in Ukraine speaking Russian and there was discrimination of Russian speakers.” Well, that law pre-war didn’t come to pass. And now of course Russia has been attacking, so the feelings may be different. Zelenskyy himself spoke Russian. He had to learn Ukrainian. His television shows were in Russian as far as I remember.
“Well, you know, there were people who weren’t happy and who really liked the Soviet Union.” Well, you know, in East Germany, a lot of people still like that too. Doesn’t mean Russia had a right to invade.
“Well, Crimea was given by Khrushchev. It’s really Russian.” Well, Crimea needs water supply from Ukrainian territory. Yes, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was part of the Soviet Union, but it was still its own Soviet Socialist Republic. It made sense to logistically subordinate Crimea to the Ukrainian SSR. There was not necessarily thinking that Ukraine would become independent, but it’s probably one of the reasons why Putin invaded eventually.
Because after Crimea was illegally occupied by Russia, Ukraine decided, “Well, if they say they don’t need us, then we don’t have to give them our water.” And so that’s one of the reasons that Russia decided to invade—because after it stole Crimea, it didn’t have the water. Why should Ukraine continue to send water to Crimea if Crimea is occupied?
The Scale of Russian Atrocities
Nothing Ukraine did, nothing Ukraine has done justifies what Russia is doing right now.
And when I use the word genocide, this is because that is the declared aim of Russia. They want to eliminate any trace of Ukrainian culture and of Ukrainian identity and of any people that see themselves as Ukrainian. They’re destroying Ukrainian churches. They’re destroying Ukrainian architecture. They’re removing museum items from occupied museums. They’re killing Ukrainians.
We just learned that in the occupied territories, any young person of age is sent into the Russian military to fight against their Ukrainian brethren. This is the level of depravity on the Russian side.
And when I say Russian side, I mean the side that conforms with the government. There will be plenty of Russians that don’t like what’s going on but are too scared into submission to speak out. I grant that—I grew up in East Germany. I grew up under the Soviet system. I kind of understand that feeling a little bit. The system spreads fear. The system spreads misinformation.
Why Support Must Continue
When we see a focus on Zelenskyy and corruption and “this isn’t working, that isn’t working,” none of that is reason to stop supporting Ukraine. And even if Zelenskyy weren’t there, they have a deeper bench than Russia. There would be another politician fighting the fight. That’s why this idea of “oh, it’s just Zelenskyy’s war” is wrong. Ukraine as a country, the Ukrainian people as a people don’t want to be part of Russia.
Ukraine has undergone the Holodomor, a genocide from way back then under Soviet times where deliberate starvation was caused in Ukraine and also other parts of the Soviet Union. But in Ukraine there’s a history of that. Ukraine has wanted to become independent for a long time.
Ukraine also had to choose—just imagine that choice—between Hitler and Stalin. Some Ukrainians chose Hitler because under Stalin they already saw the Holodomor. I mean, what choice is this? But that is history. None of this justifies the present. This is victim blaming.
You know, like rapists always have an excuse. “Oh, she looked at me that way. Oh, she wore that dress. Oh, she walked provocatively. Oh, I couldn’t help myself.” Nonsense. We don’t side with a rapist. Well, some do, but oh well.
Putin even said in the beginning, “Come here, my beautiful one, whether you like it or not.” He deliberately used the language of a rapist towards his victim, no matter what piece of literature he was quoting.
Conclusion
So we shouldn’t distract ourselves by whatever is going on in Ukraine domestically. Ukraine knows it has to fulfill criteria to become part of the EU, to become eventually part of NATO. Ukraine knows that all those donor countries are looking at it and saying, “Fix your problems.”
They know, and the Ukrainian people know. So I would say trust the instincts of the Ukrainian people in demanding their democracy function better this time and continue supporting Ukraine because Ukraine is the victim. Russia is the perpetrator. Russia needs to be defeated. Ukraine needs to win and Ukraine can win.
Ceterum censeo Ucrainam esse defendam. Слава Україні!
[This was originally posted to YouTube as a video. This post is a slightly abbreviated transcript, preserving the oral style of the video.]
Erratic Attempts 