From Patriotic Alternative.
Edward Saunders
On the 24th February of this year, Russia launched the largest invasion in Europe since World War Two, sending approximately 250,000 men into battle. At first there were rapid gains for them, but over time they suffered defeat and were forced to withdraw in many areas. Moscow’s problems were caused by a reckless, ill-thought out strategy that could easily have been avoided. Instead of just using overwhelming force (they have 2 million men including reserves) to conquer the pro-Russian areas in the south east, they decided to spread 250,000 men around 2/3rds of Europe’s largest country.
Repression by Kyiv
This meant their frontline was undermanned, and they were forced into a humiliating withdrawal from Kiev and Kharkiv, the latter being a Russian speaking city. Following Putin’s mistake he then admitted his error and completely changed the campaign, with the focus being moved to the south-east as realism had always demanded. Of course the Ukrainian side has also made blunders, and its PR campaign is often based on lies. Banning opposition parties and banning the Russian language are but two reasons why the Zelensky government is disreputable.
What followed in the autumn was a massive stalemate, as troops on both sides dug in and quite literally got stuck in the mud. The ‘correct’ Western view, that Russia must be opposed at all costs, is beginning to tire as arms stocks begin to run out. Britain, America and France funding Kiev’s war on an indefinite basis is absurd, especially when energy woes are taken into account. The most shocking statistic though – and the one that is almost certain to favour a Russian victory – is that 10% of Ukraine’s population have left the country. (Nearly 200,000 have arrived in Britain alone).
Those that have fled to Russia will no doubt be used to repopulate the country if Putin is victorious, yet it is unlikely those moving to France, Germany and Britain will ever return because the quality of life is so much better. It is rather sad to think that Ukrainian soldiers are dying even though many of their people are long gone. As I wrote back in February, the best solution was for the country to be split between the two different ethnicities in order to avoid bloodshed. Of course this never happened and the result has been total war, economic chaos and food insecurity.
The dissident right itself has been split over this geopolitical issue. Those that supported the Covid narrative also seemed to support Ukraine as well, and this doesn’t particularly bode well if an even bigger crisis emerges in the future. After all the liberal Western elite lies about pretty much everything, and the amount of evidence regarding hidden narratives in this war continues to mount. The idea that rainbow flags, transhumanism, globalisation and cultural Marxism will benefit the Ukrainian people is absurd.
Some people on social media have claimed that a Ukrainian victory could lead to it becoming like Hungary – in the Western sphere yet ardently conservative. The problem with this view is that Kiev’s elite – with Zelensky and his backers at the helm – are inheritently liberal and globalist, and they control all of Ukraine’s institutions. The western half of the country is pro-EU, pro-NATO, and increasingly in favour of gay marriage and immigration. This is why America is so committed to defeating Russia here – because Putin offers a completely different world view – one rooted in the Russian language, Orthodox Christianity and a more traditional way of life. Russia of course has major faults and no one can deny that, but the reality of the conflict is both an ideological and ethnic struggle.
Collapsing population
On a wider scale, Eastern Europe is in a state of demographic decline, as mass emigration to Britain, Germany and France have contributed to already declining birth rates. The Ukraine war simply adds to this reality, and there is no doubt that conflict is the last thing that region needs. For context, 2/5ths of working age Ukrainians have left the country to work elsewhere in recent decades. It is the first time in history when the dead in battle are unlikely to be replaced by the next generation, and this is why in the long term Russia may win because it has a much larger population.
Western liberals and American neo-cons may dream of pushing back Russia and over throwing Putin’s regime, but the likelihood in the end is that a deal will be made. This is how most wars in history have ended, (World War Two being a notable exception), and is the most sensible as Ukraine’s ammunition and man power begin to wane. From our perspective in Britain we should be concerned with our own problems, and this obsession with getting involved in foreign affairs so directly has to end. Fuelling a conflict in Europe by providing financial and military assistance is prolonging the death and destruction of both the Russian and Ukrainian people.
The most sensible solution is for Russia to be given a land bridge to Crimea (the land it has already conquered in the war), whilst the Ukrainians keep everything else (including the areas they have retaken). This may sound one sided, but the alternative is years of conflict and the food and energy insecurities that result. Europe is no longer a continent with disposable income or a homogenous population, and it can no longer cope with prolonged crises as it could in the past. Perhaps give the art of compromise a chance, because the alternative is currently absolute hell. Over the Christmas period, my thoughts will be with both the Ukrainian and Russian soldiers fighting in the frozen trenches.
From Patriotic Alternative.