Thread by @JBelcourt73

Yesterday I talked about Genera Zaluzhnyi and it turns out today I need to talk about another general. I had no idea but today is the birthday of General Vatutin. In my opinion he was the best commander the Soviet's had during WWII. Far better than Zhukov and was the only early

commander they had who could fight the Germans to a standstill on their terms and even counter-attack. Sadly Stalin promoted him to lead the 1st Ukrainian front where he seized Kyiv from the Germans. Unfortunately for him, he was not seen as a liberator but as just another

invader and in Feb of 1944 the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) killed him. The UPA was born in the 1920's and fought for Ukrainian indepedence from Poles, Russians and Germans. The Soviets did not finally extinguish it until the 1950's but some veterans survived and live among us

today. Despite the Soviets and Communists poles killing, imprisoning and deporting over a million Ukrainians after the end of WWII. I am not going to white wash the UPA, they were a product of their times and were antisemitic and anti-Pole and did horrible things. They took part

in the Holocaust and that is unforgivable. However they are proof that the idea of an independent Ukraine free from foreign domination is not a post-Soviet invention but something we can trace unbroken to the collapse of the Czar's empire. Would anyone for example claim that the

Czechs, Slovaks or Croats are not a real people simply because they did not achieve nation-state status until an empire died in WWI? Would you condemn American, French, English and Spanish people today because their great grandparents held views we find abhorrent today, would you

denounce your own grandparents? Of course not, we have repudiated their views on race and religion and left them to history while we build tolerant inclusive societies. Ukraine is doing the same. Of course this is not the truth that Russia wants out there. They want people to

think the Ukrainians are frozen in time and still have a 1944 worldview on things. Nothing could be further from the truth. The far right in Ukraine failed to win any seats in the Rada (parliament), the nation has a Jewish president and Ukrainians over every stripe from ethnic

Ukrainians and Russians to Cossacks, ethnic Hungarians, ethnic Polish to 2nd generation Ukrainians whose parents were from Africa have rallied to the defense of Ukraine. They are all Ukrainians. In contrast, it is the Russians who maintain the ancient world view. Yesterday

would have been Dugina's birthday. She is a great case in point. Well her father is, look at his writings and the influence he has had, compare it to the world view of the demonic Austrian that unleashed WWII. Not much daylight there. He is not alone, we see similar statements

the top to the bottom of Russian society. It is Russia who has failed to learn the lesson of WWII: that we are all in this together. She still wants an empire built on exploitation of those she sees as others, less than, fit only to be ruled. This is what we oppose. Never Again,

demands we support Ukraine. This is why I tag @JohnBoozman, @SenTomCotton, and @RepFrenchHill everyday telling them to send more, send better, and send now. Its why I encourage ya'll to support the war fighters of 92nd Brigade: @LibertyUkraineF, @georgian_legion and @belwarriors

or to donate to charities that support the war effort or the impacted civilians like @MriyaAid, @UkraineAidOps, @U24_gov_ua and @3xR_team. Its why I am proud to be a #FELLA and member of #NAFO. I fight against the Russian narrative of hate. Speaking of hate, many of my readers

readers know that @SarahAshtonLV recently donated her uniform to the Smithsonian. The Russian's hate her. If you could boil every Russian hate-trope into a single person and set them free upon the Earth she would be it. I think that is an even bigger achievement than the donation

truth be told. Congrats to her on both accomplishments. PS: in case you missed it in my writing above this is the type of society Ukraine is building and why Russia hates it. They cannot stand the ideas of merely being one among many.

Until Ukraine Wins On Ukraine's Terms: Slava Ukraini! @mfa_Russia <--- still losing and thy days are numbered. Ceterum censeo delendam esse Russia. 20 new nations are waiting to be born as the last empire falls.

@mfa_russia @threadreaderapp unroll please