SUNDAY 15 MAY 2022

Notes on an interview:

UKRAINE WORLD: Episode 97: Is This War About Geopolitics?

Interview with Danylo Lubkivsky, Director of Kyiv Security Forum

• Russians are schooled into the belief that the West is the most horrible empire ever to be in existence. 
• They believe that a greedy West is trying to conquer them.  This is part of their mindset. 
•  Host:  The West underestimated the imperial nature of Russian society.   
• WWII was the end of German imperialism but left the Russian empire.
• The loss of the cold war was for Russia like defeat of Germany.
• Guest: What to do with Russia is the most important question of the 21^st century.  You cannot compare Russia to Germany after WWI.   Russia wasn’t abandoned and neglected.  Russia was invited into the international community and the international bodies.  They were given a place on the UN Security Council. 
• The problem was that Russia never accepted the invitation.  The desire of Russia was to influence the international process to project a false understanding of their own superiority.  Russia had chance to build strong economy, help their citizens and get rid of the chauvinism and nostalgia.  But to the contrary, they did everything not to cure the Russian society but to deepen these societal diseases.   
• Overall the majority of Russians support the offensive against Ukraine.  They bare a strong collective responsibility for what the Kremlin is doing right now.  Many people want to return to the old Soviet Union system.  They “ordere the music.”
•  “At some point, the Russians made the mistake when they have chosen the road not of their own independence but of belong in some other state formations that looked like helping us to protect our independence.”  “Every nation makes its own mistakes.”  “Russia is guilty not only of some mistakes, but of a great crime against Ukraine, against the world, against the ideas of the humanity.”

EUROMAIDAN PRESS

• Russia is using occupied Crimea to imprison and ill-treat hostages.
• Sea mines wash ashore in Odesa.
• Russians use prohibited phosphorus munitions and cluster munitions in Dnipropetrovsk.
• Ukrainians manage to buy freedom for some of their activists kidnapped to Crimea.  Corruption of the Siloviki allows this.
• Russia is attempting to encircle Ukrainian forces in the Donbas.

TWITTER

• Per Newsweek: Russian State TV is praising Rand Paul for singlehandedly blockin Ukraine aid in the Senate.  The anchors commended him for “not being primarily worried” about the “fate of Ukrainians.”
• Natasha Bertrand: Over 400 soldiers were killed last week trying to cross the Donets river.  Western military leaders say this represents a stunning lack of tactical sense on the part of the Russians.

UKRAINE WORLD

• Reports from Kherson of rape of girls, people who disappeared, widespread cases of torture and beatings. 
• Finland is applying for NATO membership.
• Hungary’s president condemned the Russian invasion aNd supported Ukraine’s attempts to join NATO.
• (Note: How dare the Republicans attempt to take any credit for the victories in Ukraine. They fought this tooth and nail. They removed support for Ukraine from the party platform in 2016.  They supported a president who tried to extort Ukraine with a holdup of military weaponry.  F..k them.)
• Ukraine has pushed Russia back from the Kharkiv area.