Thread by @UmlandAndreas

Friendly memo to #Russian cynics joyful when #Russia's #cruisemissiles fly into #Ukraine: A thread, in three parts, on unjoyous aspect of your weekly little triumphs. (Let your children and grandchildren also have a look, or tell them. It concerns them too!) Analyze this:
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PART 1:
Your missiles are expensive. Many never reach their target, but are intercepted or defunct. Those that hit their targets often destroy infrastructure whose reconstruction is less expensive than your missile. Sure, #Ukraine looses something. But #Russia looses more.
/2

Rebuilding destroyed #Ukrainian infrastructure will be partly done with Western funds. The more you destroy, the more help #Ukraine may get & the more sanctions may be imposed on #Russia. Sure, everybody looses. But, in relative terms, you may loose most. Compare & compute!
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PART 2: Killing & meming Ukrainians may backfire. Your missile might hit its target successfully & kill or wound many #Ukrainians. But are you and your children ready to take the hit back? Even if you destroy all of #Ukraine, millions of Ukrainians will survive & not forget.
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Tens or hundreds of millions of non-Ukrainians are, unlike you, sympathetic to #Ukraine. Outside #Russia, #Ukrainians are regarded as human and not #subhuman. Many Ukrainians & some non-Ukrainians will seek revenge or, at least, justice for the people killed or maimed by you.
/5

Are you & your children ready for a long fight continuing for decades, after the end of your "special military operation"? Are you already preparing your children to repent and ask #Ukrainians for forgiveness for #Russia's misdeeds? If not: How do you plan to get out of this?
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PART 3:
Eventually, #Russians will pay for much or even all of #Russia's destruction in #Ukraine. Sure, YOU may not think of Ukraine as a state and nation. But international law, organizations and courts do regard Ukraine and its citizens as ordinary subjects with full rights.
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Are you and your children ready to compensate #Ukrainians for the harm done by #Russia's army during the "special military operation"? No? But Ukrainians will seek and get assistance from various international and national courts and organizations when seeking compensation.
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A self-respecting Russian patriot may, of course, not recognize the authority of non-Russian courts and organizations. Yet, the Russian economy is a part of the world economy. #Russia has assets abroad. Or are you & your children ready to turn Russia into a large North Korea?
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CONCLUSIONS:
Sure, when the next Russian cruise missile hits a Ukrainian city, you may feel proud, or joyful, or both. But are you ready pay the full bill for Russia's unique adventure? Are your children aware of the consequences the "special military operation" has for them?
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What is the endgame of all of this for #Russia & its citizens? To stop, declare victory & go back to normal life? You may want move on &, perhaps, forget what happened. But millions of Ukrainians & non-Ukrainians will not forget, but seek revenge, justice & compensation.
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Sure, Russia may attain victory in Ukraine, with carpet bombing, or using weapons of mass destruction, or weaponizing nuclear power plants, or all of that. But what would follow such a hypothetical victory? Can Russia become exempt from international law & ethical judgement?
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A hypothetical victory will not be accepted by millions of Ukrainians and non-Ukrainians. To be sure, the more ruthless Russia is in Ukraine, the more short-term military successes it could attain. Yet the claims against Russia will only grow. Somebody will pay for them.
/END

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