Reflections on the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Why are you using passed tense?

Absolutely! Ukraine used to be a democratic country. 

Woon Deadn wrote: You see, there's a martial law in Ukraine and one may be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison PLUS a total property confiscation for high treason...

Can you give us proof of this martial law in Ukraine, because this sounds very much like the martial law Putin decreed in Russia...?

Hi, Lorenzo. It seems, I have never talked to you personally in this thread (or anywhere else, just for the record). You see, there's a martial law in Ukraine and one may be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison PLUS a total property confiscation for high treason - it naturally decreases the number of topics and the selection of words a Ukrainian may use in public conversation - even on the Net... Because, you know, the height of the potential treason is a relative thing. The height may swing up and down, depending on many criteria. 

So, trying to pick the correct words, I can answer this way: Mr. Zelensky has little experience of ruling the country, he is an actor deep inside his mind. He is behaving like an actor. He probably imagines himself a character in the patriotic movie, he feels like that. He gave a speech like Chaplin's character in The Great Dictator. He loves movies, he loves classic Soviet movies. He has a charming wife. Both he and his wife are evidently educated persons, they are University graduates. What would, say, Adriano Celentano or Louis De Funes do in such a situation we're talking about? Since they were actors, they would have probably played some kind of cinematic role in the real life. The role according to what they had watched, read, played themselves before. You see, the current situation is very helpful for Mr. Zelensky's political career. Quite like all of his predecessors in Ukraine, he was seen as a prodigy at the time of elections, then since two months later and on he was continuously condemned by both sides of the political spectrum. The anti-Russian part of Ukrainian society constantly blamed him for the absence of directly anti-Russian activities, the pro-Russian part of Ukrainian voters constantly blamed him for flirting with Europe and the USA. His ratings of popularity were extremely low at best. Here, suddenly he is becoming one of the greatest heroes in the country, and beyond. The current situation is very useful for his further political career. He will definitely become the next president of Ukraine - if the country survives as a sovereign entity. 

What would I do, you're asking? 

First of all, I am very different from him. I have never been a big fan of his troupe's comedy show. Their humour was very far from what Monty Python did... Principally far.  (I'm not even saying that their show made a few - at least, four - openly homophobic sketches, hinting at the bullying of male gays. Also, btw, in one of his sketches like ten-twelve years ago he told from the stage that Ukraine should not join NATO...) 

I am a very different person. I don't think I would have ever liked the idea of participating in the Presidential elections in Ukraine as the candidate. I have never participated in them even as the voter, after all. I suppose, Mr. Zelensky is much more naive than me, much more idealistic than me. Again, I can suppose his favourite Chaplin's movie is indeed The Great Dictator - mine is Modern Times, The Great Dictator is too artificially elongated as for me, too theatrical. Mr. Zelensky is the man of theatre, by his nature, I believe. I am a real life man, man of the comedy movies. I prefer comedies only. I don't like theatre plays. I don't believe in theatre or classical music. I believe only in parody movies, speaking of cinematography. 

Second, I like to tell, to explain. I would have definitely published a book or four or more - at least, in Russian - where I would have described my view of the world, and everything else. Unlike many other politicians who publish something, I would have written all those texts myself and only myself, basing it on my personal experience. I would have promoted my books, my views all over the country. Since it was written in Russian, I would have given (maybe even for free) those my works to the neighbouring countries where pretty everybody can read Russian texts. The materialist ideals are promoted by selling and consumption, the hardly-material ideals are promoted by permanent talking and reading. Whether we like Lenin or Stalin, their numerous volumes of works helped in promoting their ideals incomparably greater than one book by Hitler. 

Third, I think that the man in his late 30s and on, should already have firm beliefs. I haven't observed any adamant set of emerald beliefs in Mr. Zelensky. Now as we have a war and a martial law, I certainly see them - but before that I haven't seen them in that brave man. 

I believe that Mr. Zelensky was a man with really good intentions, really hoping to make his country's people's lives better. However, the country that he has got is very complex, and he was not that complex for ruling it. He hadn't got that schizophrenic, Pythonesque string inside the harp of his brains and heart along with the comprehension of the necessity to talk and write on his views constantly. He wasn't prepared for such a complex work. Now, hopefully, everything gets fine, ends nice - he is learning how to deal with it all. 

As Valpaiana mentions anti-fascists from the Resistance, I have in mind that Hitler was not stopped by non-violence, and neither by opponents in Germany.

Sure, Putin is not Hitler, however finding a peaceful solution on the basis of non-violence and disarmament needs to assume/trust that the other side respects non-violence rather than being encouraged to use violence against those who don't effectively defend themselves. It's hard to have that trust in Putin!

 

Yesterday I read this:

It seems Putin demands disarmament of the Ukraine (obviously without offering anything of that kind for Russia). This does not seem acceptable to me, as it essentially means that he wants to have a state of affairs that makes it easier for the Russians to invade another time (keep in mind that Putin said that the Ukraine doesn't have the right to exist as an independent nation).

I'm not sure it is of any necessity to mention that now, honestly. Not in Kiev or Kharkiv, though. Not far from Kiev, southwards.