With recent escalation in events between Ukraine and Russia [1] [2] [3], my friend sent me an article written this past summer outlining Putin’s view on the affair. Although I’m not an expert in Slavic politics and foreign relations, that doesn’t stop me from delivering a half-baked opinion on the issue of Ukrainian independence from Russia. I highly recommend that you as the reader read the full article below, it’s surprisingly well written and in a more-or-less heartfelt tone:
http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/66181
The Putin article is very interesting. I have only an elementary understanding of the region, and only from the viewpoint of the Russian Orthodox Church. While it's true about the history of the old Slavic lands, Holy Rus, and the shared use of Church Slavonic (the old language) [4], how does the former KGB agent of all people not realize how bad the extent of USSR propaganda is [5] [6]?
This is the same theme that replays constantly in the world. A generation or two, or three ignorant of history; those born after the Red Revolution of 1917 and those born during the 60+ years of Soviet rule have been completely damaged from any sort of unification of the kind that Putin claims to seek. The Bolsheviks and the USSR had a massive hit on the Russian Orthodox Church and desired to eliminate it from Russian History altogether [4]. Anyone raised with a Soviet Education would have a predisposition to hate or be wary of any appeals to religion, especially the religion of the Tsars they overthrew and the Church that generally supported them [7]. In theory, he should know this?
It's possible that he may have forgotten, or that the fact that he grew up Orthodox Christian led to this sort of blind spot. Putin's story is that his father was a middle ranking Soviet Admin and was an atheist, but his mother was a devout Christian and conducted her faith in hiding much like all Orthodox Christians at that time and would educate her son on the principles of her faith. He wouldn't consider himself a devout Christian until he had a car accident that he survived in the 80's I think. After that, he visits a church in Moscow, and meets a priest who tutored him back to the Church. that priest would become the father of the current head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Cyril of Moscow, who is close friends with Putin now [8].
A possible better route for this persuasion is to turn the tables and pull "an enemy of my enemy" type plan. He tries it with the dirty disgusting kielbasa-dog Polish people, but this wouldn't be effective because Russia and Poland have some shared heritage due to geography alone [9]. Instead, it surprises me how Ukrainian citizens never see it as odd that the U.S. suddenly had such a vast interest in Ukraine after 2008 where we previously didn't care much for them past Communism containment [10]. Or how the U.S., a nation of protestants (who often know nothing of Orthodox Christianity) have such an interest in helping them develop an independent church separate from Russia with the help of the Greek Orthodox Church [11], which is massively indebted to the EU and NATO which is an arm of the US military for the most part [12] [13].
The Ukrainians might be lost on this one. Putin understands as he stated, that the Ukrainians are in fact an asset. He wants their resources and their brains for his crumbling country. Meanwhile, the US and the EU want their resources and their women to continue to propagate the white race in the face of mass immigration from non-white countries (Sarcasm, but we likely have interest in natural gas). This all continues to be a prelude to war, boots-on-the-ground war, but why?
Do liberal politicians really hate Russia this much? After all, many old politicians today are mentally stuck in the Cold War Era...
Is war with Russia a cover for the coming Chinese collapse? What happened with Evergrande is huge in China, a war would definitely distract from the Paper Tiger...
Is this the start of the energy wars? After we've successfully strangled our own oil supply in the west and put our future back in the hands of OPEC, people demand cheap power again...
Maybe this is the only way out of any coming economic hardship in the west? War is one of the best ways to increase productivity and money, it worked after the great depression after all…
Who knows...
References:
[1] Macron warns against “self-fulfilling” prophecies on Ukraine-Russia risks [Internet]. [cited 2021 Dec 10]. Available from: https://news.yahoo.com/macron-warns-against-self-fulfilling-143342420.html.
[2] Why Putin is willing to risk a catastrophic war to dominate Ukraine [Internet]. [cited 2021 Dec 10]. Available from: https://news.yahoo.com/why-putin-willing-risk-catastrophic-212007239.html.
[3] Ukraine ambassador to the UK says Russian invasion could spark nuclear disasters like Chernobyl [Internet]. [cited 2021 Dec 10]. Available from: https://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-ambassador-uk-says-russian-135917160.html.
[4] Ware T. The Orthodox Church: New Edition. 2nd edition. London, England ; New York, N.Y: Penguin Books; 1993.
[5] STALIN PROPAGANDĂ ȘI REALITATE | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty [Internet]. [cited 2021 Dec 10]. Available from: https://www.rferl.org/a/27774611.html.
[6] Soldak K. This Is How Propaganda Works: A Look Inside A Soviet Childhood [Internet]. Forbes. [cited 2021 Dec 10]. Available from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/katyasoldak/2017/12/20/this-is-how-propaganda-works-a-look-inside-a-soviet-childhood/.
[7] Eastern Orthodoxy - The church of Russia (1448–1800) | Britannica [Internet]. [cited 2021 Dec 10]. Available from: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eastern-Orthodoxy/The-church-of-Russia-1448-1800.
[8] Orthodox Church. Patriarch Cyril’s father baptized Vladimir Putin [Internet]. 2018 [cited 2021 Dec 10]. Available from:
[9] Divided memories, shared memories: Poland, Russia, Ukraine [Internet]. [cited 2021 Dec 10]. Available from: https://calenda.org/435721.
[10] Herbst SP and J. The Obama Doctrine and Ukraine [Internet]. Brookings. 1AD [cited 2021 Dec 10]. Available from: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2016/03/18/the-obama-doctrine-and-ukraine/.
[11] Ukraine Orthodox Church granted independence from Russian Church. BBC News [Internet]. 2019 Jan 5 [cited 2021 Dec 10]; Available from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46768270.
[12] Harress C. Greece is quickly becoming a pawn between NATO and Russia [Internet]. Business Insider. [cited 2021 Dec 10]. Available from: https://www.businessinsider.com/greece-is-quickly-becoming-a-pawn-between-nato-and-russia-2015-7.
[13] The Greek debt crisis story in numbers. BBC News [Internet]. 2015 Jul 10 [cited 2021 Dec 10]; Available from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33407742.