Now that Ukraine has taken a backseat to the other ‘war’ across the pond the news seems to glaze over much of the reports coming out of that conflict.
Of course we in the West get the news when it is something dire that could push more money to start flowing again into Ukraine.
Like this recent report….
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned allies on Saturday that an “artificial deficit” of arms for his country risks giving Russia breathing space, highlighting the need for artillery and long-range weapons after his military chief said he was withdrawing troops from the eastern city of Avdiivka, “the first major gain Russian forces have achieved since May of last year,” reports the New York Times. Zelensky spoke to the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of security and foreign policy officials, per the AP. Ukraine is back on the defensive against Russia in the nearly two-year-old war, hindered by low ammunition supplies and a shortage of personnel. “Ukrainians have proven that we can force Russia to retreat,” Zelensky said. “We can get our land back, and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin can lose, and this has already happened more than once on the battlefield.”
See a report for the spending of more US dollars.
But let’s think about what has happened as a result of 2 years to basically total war in Ukraine.
As we approach the second anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, it’s worth reflecting on who bears the main responsibility for the subsequent “inter-imperialist US-Russia proxy war,” an epic slaughter that produced 500,000 deaths and injuries so far and more than 300,000 fatalities (exact figures are hard to come by).
As we approach the anniversary could all this death and destruction could have been avoided?
Yes it could have been.
The Ukraine War could have been averted if Ukraine’s Western tool of a president Volodymyr Zelensky had said just five words after being elected in 2019: “Ukraine will not join NATO.”
Five words versus 500,000 casualties.
Think about that.
As Benjamin Abelow pointed out in his short, expertly crafted, and Noam Chomsky-endorsed 2022 bookHow the West Brought War to Ukraine, the standard Western narrative claiming that Putin is “an insatiable, Hitler-like expansionist who invaded Ukraine in an unprovoked land grab” is complete nonsense. The real cause of the February 2022 invasion that led to the war was the misguided and reckless policy direction taken by Washington and its imperial tool NATO over the last three decades.
500,000 Dead and Maimed in Ukraine, Enough Already
Sorry but it is time for peace….or there will be nothing left of Ukraine for Zelenskyy to rule….
The mass slaughter on both sides in this long battle was a measure of the strategic value of the city to both sides, but it is also emblematic of the shocking human cost of this war, which has degenerated into a brutal and bloody war of attrition along a nearly static front line. Neither side made significant territorial gains in the entire 2023 year of fighting, with a net gain to Russia of a mere 188 square miles, or 0.1% of Ukraine.
And while it is the Ukrainians and Russians fighting and dying in this war of attrition with over half a million casualties, it is the United States, with some its Western allies, that has stood in the way of peace talks. This was true of talks between Russia and Ukraine that took place in March 2022, one month after the Russian invasion, and it is true of talks that Russia tried to initiate with the United States as recently as January 2024.
Nobody cares about who has died or why just that Putin is being confronted and the US has a permanent bad guy to blame everything on. Most people cannot see past their chest thumping bullsh*t.
At what point is enough enough?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
There was a detailed report on the BBC this week, after Zelensky went public by admitting over 31,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed in the fighting. He would not be drawn on figures for wounded, or detailed figures for civilian deaths. The BBC estimated wounded to be in excess of 100,000, and civilian casualties) dead and wounded) to be ‘over 250,000’.
Reports from the UK Ministry of Defence suggest that all those numbers are higher. They say 48-50,000 killed, wounded/disabled around 150,000, and civilian casualties in excess of 350,000. They also estimate the total of Russian troops killed and wounded to be over 300,000. (That seems high to me)
Whoever it correct, it could have all been avoided, as you say.
Best wishes, Pete.
By saying a few simple words this whole disaster would be nothing at all. Those figures seem a bit high to me as well. chuq