Thread by @minna_alander

I’ve recommended “Ukraine vs. Darkness” by @olex_scherba before but just have to emphasise again how insightful it is for everyone who wants to understand 🇺🇦.

Its greatest merit is how painfully it shows that the Ukrainian perspective has been lacking in Western discourses

The book came out in 2021 so it doesn’t include the latest Russian invasion. Nevertheless every chapter is so full of truth. All of it was there for anyone to see but we looked away.

It deeply saddens me that e.g. this narrative is still floating around, after all 🇷🇺 has done

Or how many people totally bought the Russian - absolutely ridiculous - smokescreen of oppression of Russian-speakers

Or the narrative of “separatism” in Eastern Ukraine. Or that the annexation of Crimea by Russia was a bloodless occasion.

Putin did copy quite many things from Hitler’s playbook so no wonder all of NCEE sees parallels to WWII, not to WWI (like France and Germany)

Or here: Ukraine wasn’t “anti-Russian” until 🇷🇺 made it so.

Same with Finland. Some ppl buy the 🇷🇺 view that 🇫🇮 is causing tensions by joining NATO. But 🇫🇮 was an almost ridiculously good and considerate neighbour to 🇷🇺 until now. 🇷🇺 just has a way of antagonising its neighbours

Last but not least: it’s a fact that the West, or at least large parts of it, have been constantly prioritising its relations with Russia over Ukraine. It’s very, very sad that it took a full-scale invasion by Russia to change that - and even that change is not even complete

This is the book for everyone who asked !

P.S. have to add this quote: it’s indeed incredible how many people - not only in Russia - think that the US is behind everything that somehow goes against Russia. I keep reading and hearing takes that the US forced Finland and Sweden to join NATO too. It’s just 🤯🤯🤯