it just occurred to me is that there are people in 🇪🇺 who aren't evil or ignorant, but they blame 🇺🇦 for causing problems by not surrendering.
They neither understand the nature of russian aggression, nor want to.
History has a way of waking the willfully blind.
🧵Thread 1/5 Those who refuse to grasp what’s at stake inevitably get others pay the price.
To the "make it all go away" and "let there be peace" crowd, russia & Ukraine are one and the same, so what’s the fuss all about?
2/5

In The Economist, Yulia Navalnaya tells Europe: don’t blame Russians, blame Putin.
I say: she either doesn't understands her own country or deliberately misleads.
Here’s a line-by-line takedown of her lofty but insidious claims 🧵 Navalnaya: But how could they have stopped him, when for over 20 years he systematically destroyed every avenue of political resistance—without facing any serious international consequences?

Russian people aren't the victims.

POO-tihn doesn’t want to end the war, that much is clear.

But here’s a question, rarely asked: can he?

I came across an open letter by Soviet-born writer & filmmaker Eduard Topol to Trump that digs into this, and it’s worth sharing.

Here it is, as a thread ⤵️
1/n Dear Mr. President!
Dear Donald!

As the author of 50 books & a dozen films about 🇷🇺, I consider myself entitled to inform you.

You must know that putin cannot stop the war with 🇺🇦, even if you gift him your Mar-a-Lago, Trump Tower in New York, & a dozen of your golf clubs.
2/n

Wars of aggression must end in defeat or peace 🕊️ will never return.

That’s the argument of my latest op-ed for🇨🇭Switzerland’s leading paper: Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German)
Here’s the summary in a short thread 🧵
1/9 What’s happening in 🇺🇦 is not a “conflict.”
It’s not a misunderstanding between two sides.
It’s a war of choice by russia: a criminal act of aggression under international law.
It will only end when russia stops attacking. Not when Ukraine stops defending itself.
2/9

“Too many people are dying — thousands each week — in a terrible and senseless war.” Trump keeps repeating

moscow’s war of choice is truly terrible, but to call it “senseless” is to miss the point

a few highlights from latest op-ed in a thread 🧵

1/9 russia has been killing Ukrainians for the crime of being Ukrainian since 2014 — predictably, methodically, relentlessly.

russia’s war is also criminal, under the very rules of warfare America helped enshrine in 1945.
2/9

🧵A thread on #russia & #china in the age of appeasement
Picture a plump, aging man wearing water wings in a Beijing pool, cursing under his breath. Not the fondest memory for Khrushchev — best known for staring down Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis
1/n As he bobbed awkwardly, Mao Zedong circled around him, relishing the humiliation of a supposed ‘peer’ he knew couldn’t swim
2/n

✉️ Thank you @TheEconomist for printing my letter

Hope you’ll finally adopt the correct spelling for 🇺🇦 cities: not just Kyiv, but also Odesa

russian culture is where Pushkin & putin come from. Dugin & Dostoevsky. World-class ballet & heinous violence of #RussianColonialism 🎁 Gift link econ.st/3Eiv3UA

1/ Valdai Sam strikes again 🤢🤮

Let's discuss in detail yet another effort by the phudo-expert Charap to regurgitate kremlin's sewage and present it as candy.

#Thread (link to the article in the last comment) 2/ he wants a “neutral” peacekeeping force for 🇺🇦 knowing full well that russia has sabotaged the UN’s ability to act. The General Assembly overwhelmingly condemned russia’s war of aggression, yet the Security Council is impotent thanks to russia’s veto.

Most of the “Ukraine aid dollars” are spent in America 🇺🇸 If we want to avoid WWIII, we must stand up for Ukraine!

What is russia?
For most countries, the answer is found in a national origin story—a myth collectively embraced by the people
The more coherent, the more grounded in actual events is the myth, the stronger the national identity
russia’s national myth is rooted in a BIG LIE
1/10 Thus, russia’s essence is a perverted insecurity that manifests itself as belligerence layered on top of a siege mentality.
The russian elites know full well and the general populace senses by intuition that their national myth is hollow.
2/10

'With 🇺🇦, as long as it takes,' we proclaimed. But in Moscow, they heard something else: the West is more terrified of 🇺🇦 winning than losing. To dispel any doubts, the Kremlin bombed a children’s cancer hospital on the eve of a NATO summit.
1/n #Thread Let's be clear: 🇷🇺 alone is culpable for the war crimes it commits. But the grim reality is that the missiles that struck 🇺🇦 could have been intercepted. That's because, over the last 10 years since 🇷🇺 first invaded, we have collectively failed to equip 🇺🇦 with the air defense systems

🪆Valdai Sam strikes again 💥
Only God knows why @scharap’s equivocations always tilt towards the kremlin, but equally puzzling is the decision by Washington Post to print this overtly misleading and intellectually disingenuous crap.
Let me break it down for you
🧵1/x The headline & the opening paragraph conveniently omit the context in which the US Administration has decided to drop its demand that 🇺🇦 fights russian invasion with hands tied behind its back.
Did Valdai Sam hear about missile strikes on Kharkiv? edition.cnn.com/2024/05/25/eur…

How is this not front page news in every major western media?
Georgia wants to decide for itself

https://twitter.com/nonamamulashvi/status/1789352473586442603

Terrorists killed civilians in moscow. The responsibility falls on the russian government (either it orchestrated the attack or was criminally negligent).
But the terror kremlin rained on russia’s capital pales in comparison to the terror it rains on Ukraine every day Plane icons in yellow — civil aviation in Europe: people going on vacations, business trips, to see family, etc.

White icons are missiles and drones which could hit a Ukrainian family in their sleep anywhere in the country, as russia has proven many times

You walk down the street & see a person covered in blood being attacked by a psychopath — twice the size of his victim.
You’re with a group of friends — everyone in their prime physical condition. You’ve got a taser, pepper spray, etc. & can neutralize the offender.
You walk by. The western policy of incrementalism. The fear of provoking putin. The failure to commit to a Ukrainian victory as soon as possible and committing to “as long as it takes” instead.
Shame on us.

https://twitter.com/maria_avdv/status/1771055736153399470

putin is the president of russia on Monday, just as he was on Friday.
The outcome of the elaborate song & dance performance, which took place over the weekend, was predetermined and known to all: putin, the russian people, and the world. So why do it?
1/n (a long read) The most obvious answer is to legitimize putin’s rule and emulate democracy in order to confuse those who adore russia despite its war crimes & arm useful-idiots & retained-propagandists in the West with talking points, flawed as they are.
2/n

What a shame! @nytimes

We both know this is a patent lie! Why print it? A civilian death toll in 🇺🇦 is estimated at over 100,000 in 2022 alone…

And what is this wording “have been killed in 🇺🇦” vs. “Israel has killed”?

Perhaps you don’t know who is killing Ukrainians? Let me make it clear — it is russia and the russians who are hellbent on genocide. They started killing Ukrainians in 2014 and never stopped.

@LaurenLeatherby — what are your thoughts on this subheading?
Thanks @VladDavidzon for flagging

https://twitter.com/vladdavidzon/status/1728973133195939998

What we had in Europe was precious.

Peace is not inevitable. It’s not “the way things are.” It is a direct consequence of the rules-based order established after WWII.

Peace used to be an intermission between wars — not the other way around.

russia hasn’t “just invaded 🇺🇦,” it reintroduced the war of conquest — one of four gravest crimes under the Rome Statute of the ICC — back in Europe.

Make no mistake, Ukraine is fighting for all of us. Whatever the costs are of helping 🇺🇦 now, they pale in comparison to the costs of existing in the world where internationally recognized borders are not restored.

PS the graph below is notional & shows major wars involving “great powers”
Conflicts didn’t disappear. That’s true. There was plenty of pain & suffering in the world after 1945. But the overt wars of conquest became unthinkable in Europe until 2014 when russia invaded Ukraine.

ourworldindata.org/war-and-peace

On the controversy with Yaroslav Hunka, I’m no historian & no matter what I say, someone will surely find it offensive.

But this is what I’ve learned so far
❓did Hunka serve in the 14th Waffen-SS Grenadier Division “Galicia”?
♦️yes

❓what was he doing there?
♦️fighting Soviets, who committed genocide in 🇺🇦 just a decade ago, attempting to exterminate Ukrainians by starving millions to death #holodomor. Was he justified in wanting russians out of Ukraine? You tell me.

❓did Hunka slaughter Poles & Jews, as many allege?
♦️I don’t know. But from what I’ve read, Hunka was tried in Canada 🇨🇦 by the post-war tribunal & was found to have committed no war crimes.

What did I miss?


I will happily delete this tweet if there are mistakes or major gaps, in the meantime here is the source

euromaidanpress.com/2023/09/25/did…

🔵 why the actions of the Russian state contradict the interests of the Russian people?
🔵 why is the kremlin waging war when it was already achieving its nefarious goals by exporting corruption, manipulating western media, & weaponizing energy?
🔴 those questions have no answer,… https://t.co/dJgE8LcOo0twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
“🔴Russia's conquest of Siberia starting in the 1580s, included the enslavement of indigenous peoples whom it forced to pay tribute on pain of death, resulting in starvation as people struggled to meet quotas instead of feeding themselves
🔴 Some historians have compared this… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Why did russia invade Ukraine 🇺🇦?
🔵 Much depends on how we answer this seemingly obvious question... if we can get to the root of russia's rot, we'll learn to stop worrying about Ukraine's victory & accelerate the return of a lasting peace to Europe.
🔴 Was the decision to… https://t.co/xEN10M8ecbtwitter.com/i/web/status/1…
Kristi Raik @KristiRaik is right 🎯
we should not be afraid of a russian collapse
foreignpolicy.com/2022/12/08/ukr…