Sooner or later, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine will end, with or without a peace treaty. What then? What should the West’s policy toward Ukraine and Russia be?
The answer to this question depends greatly on the West’s current policy, and on the nature of the Putin regime.
After weeks of uncertainty, Western policy has now become clear. As U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi put it while in Kyiv, “[w]e are here to say to you, we are with you till this fight is over. We are here until victory is won.” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was almost as emphatic: “Together with our partners in the EU and NATO, we are completely unanimous in the opinion that Russia should not win.” Which is an oblique way of saying that Ukraine should win.
Not that there should have been any doubts about Western resolve. The historic meeting of 40 ministers of defense in Ramstein on April 26 should have dispelled those. During that meeting, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin noted that “we’re going to keep moving heaven and earth so that we can meet” Ukraine’s security needs.
Misplaced Criticism
The West’s determination to defeat Russia has not gone without criticism. Harvard University’s Graham Allison provides a pithy statement of that view: “If Putin is forced to choose between losing on the one hand in Ukraine and escalating the level of destruction, there’s every reason to believe he’ll escalate the level of destruction.”
The problem with this line of thinking is that Putin has already escalated twice – without being in any way provoked by Ukraine or the West. It was Putin who attacked Ukraine on Feb. 24, and it was Putin who adopted a scorched-earth policy of genocide a few weeks later.
Putin will or will not escalate regardless of what the West or Ukraine does. His war of annihilation against Ukraine stems from his own ideological beliefs about Ukraine’s illegitimacy, and from the nature of the regime he has constructed in Russia. In Putin’s eyes, Ukraine and Ukrainians must not exist, and he is obviously willing to resort to mass killings in order to achieve that goal. Meanwhile, Putin’s regime is openly fascist, and his own legitimacy and power rest on his ability to enable Russia and Russians to demonstrate greatness by slaughtering their neighbors.
Public opinion polls show that Russians overwhelmingly support Putin and his war. There is every reason to suppose that such a leader, sitting atop such a regime, will escalate hostilities if Ukraine falls. Russia will attack other countries in the former Soviet bloc.
At War’s End
Imagine now that the war is over. Either Ukraine has won, or Russia has. A Ukrainian victory at the very least entails Russia’s withdrawal from the territories it has occupied since Feb. 24. At most, Russia could be forced to withdraw from Crimea and the Donbas.
A Russian victory is harder to pin down – even an occupation and change of government in Kyiv would only shift the fighting to Ukrainian partisans, who are likely to make Russia’s stay in Ukraine unbearable.
Neither scenario will change the West’s policy toward Putin’s regime. Its support of Ukraine will remain equally unchanged. Putin will still be a war criminal, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will still be an anti-Semite, and Putin’s minions will still be collaborators who helped perpetrate genocide.
As a contemporary equivalent of Nazi Germany, Putinist Russia will perforce be shunned and sanctioned. The United States, the countries of NATO, and Ukraine – which might even be eligible to join NATO by then – will appreciate that Putin could easily start a new war at any time. Perhaps that war would again be against Ukraine, or maybe Russia will attack one of the Baltic states, or Kazakhstan, or Poland. As the West will not wish to engage Russia in a war, its only remaining option will be to contain Russia by setting up a cordon sanitaire consisting of the post-Soviet states – and then hoping for, and promoting, internally-driven regime change.
Russia Without Putin
If, on the other hand, Putin does not manage to survive – this is highly likely if Russia loses the war or if Putin attracts the blame for landing his country in an endless military quagmire – then the West may be able to soften its policy toward Russia while continuing to support Ukraine.
Everything would depend on the exact circumstances of his removal and its aftermath. If his successor is just another Putin-type figure, then we are back to the first scenario. If, as Russia’s history suggests, his successor proves to be more reasonable, or if a power struggle erupts, that might create enough political space for the United States and its allies to reach some sort of modus vivendi with Moscow. And if the post-Putin turmoil is so great as to enable the democratic opposition to enter the government and try to reverse Russia’s rush toward oblivion, the chances of genuine détente would increase significantly.
Whatever the outcome, the West should do what it is doing: Support Ukraine, and aim for a Russian defeat. The alternative – to accept Ukraine’s defeat and thereby promote a Russian victory – would only lead to catastrophe for the West, and possibly for the world.
Dr. Alexander Motyl is a professor of political science at Rutgers-Newark. A specialist on Ukraine, Russia, and the USSR, and on nationalism, revolutions, empires, and theory, he is the author of 10 books of nonfiction, including Pidsumky imperii (2009); Puti imperii (2004); Imperial Ends: The Decay, Collapse, and Revival of Empires (2001); Revolutions, Nations, Empires: Conceptual Limits and Theoretical Possibilities (1999); Dilemmas of Independence: Ukraine after Totalitarianism (1993); and The Turn to the Right: The Ideological Origins and Development of Ukrainian Nationalism, 1919–1929 (1980); the editor of 15 volumes, including The Encyclopedia of Nationalism (2000) and The Holodomor Reader (2012); and a contributor of dozens of articles to academic and policy journals, newspaper op-ed pages, and magazines. He also has a weekly blog, “Ukraine’s Orange Blues.”

Commentar
May 3, 2022 at 5:55 pm
Easy, US & NATO can bring an end to this ongoing bloody conflict by resorting to the use of nuclear weapons.
The great gamble of 2022 made by biden (and stoltenberg) will surely end in a battle with nuclear bombs.
Truman in aug 1945 announced to the US public that the military had bombed hiroshima, ‘a military base’ thus paving the way for future justification for use of nuclear bombs.
Cities like odesa and Lviv, by truman’s elegant reasoning, are ‘military bases’ since they currently serve as conduits for weapons arriving from abroad.
Now, all cities in the world can be easily classified as military bases, if truman’s 1945 principle is used. Thus this conflict in ukraine will see the use of nuclear weapons for the first time since hiroshima and nagasaki.
“MILITARY BASES”. The keyword.
Joe Comment
May 3, 2022 at 8:21 pm
Commentar: You compare the recent behavior of Ukraine with that of Japan until 1945? Can you name a single example of a place the Ukraine has invaded? (shaking my head)
Bud
May 3, 2022 at 8:53 pm
Those of us who either lived through WW2, or paid attention to the stories of our grandparents, instantly recognized the burning corpse stench of infectious Genocidal Fascism once again rearing it’s evil head on the European continent. It’s sad that it took over a month for our unheard warnings to be paid attention to. This kind of extreme Fascism cannot be placated with appeasement or diplomatic half measures. Only meeting it with combined overwhelming military force will overcome it. Ukraine- I haven’t seen such bravery, courage, and resoluteness to stand alone against such overwhelming odds since WW2. The Ukes *need* our help…but by God and all that’s good on this green earth..they *DESERVE* our help! They’ve *earned* it with their civilian blood, dying by the thousands. This. Must. Not
Stand! This is an archetypal, existential threat to all free peoples. Lock and load gang..it might get rougher yet.
??????
Slava Ukraini!
Dimmer
May 4, 2022 at 9:41 am
Вы же в курсе, что совокупные силы России и Донбасса меньше чем силы Украины?
Instruktor
May 4, 2022 at 9:37 pm
Putin needs to go. Russia needs to leave Ukraine alone.
Fighting Putin will have high cost, but the alternatives here are indeed worse.
Commentar
May 3, 2022 at 9:48 pm
Great Joeiiyy Biden’s 2022 gamble will eventually come a cropper and europeans will suffer the heat, literally, for his foolish feat.
Biden will visit Asia very soon where he’s expected to gin up his rhetoric and call for destruction of his enemy.
But on the ground, it could be a far different story than biden’s asian tour daytime fantasies, and biden could be forced to send warships loaded with nukes to the Black Sea where he hopes to finish off russian forces.
But russia would be fully ready due to frequent past provocations carried out by US, and russian forces will employ nuke stinkbombs on the warships.
Result, a nuke exchange in europe, with ramstein and other military bases going up in a cloud of radioactive ash while US forces in europe will employ b61 bombs against russia.Russia will retaliate against european capitals with SS-29 and SS-27 rockets giving biden a massive coronary and a trip to the pearly gates and THEN peace on earth.
Joe Comment
May 3, 2022 at 11:37 pm
Commentar: Biden’s gamble? Are you serious? You really don’t know who started it? But you shouldn’t be wishing for a case of all-out war of Russia versus the rest of the world, if you care at all about Russia.
SurfBird
May 4, 2022 at 9:13 am
You must not have children or you would know not to reward bad behavior with attention. Just ignore the toddler.
h
May 3, 2022 at 11:42 pm
Current joke circulating in Russia
“Russia has lost, from February 24 to May 2, around 23,800 combat troops, 1,048 tanks, 2,519 armored combat vehicles, 459 artillery systems, 8 ships, 271 UAVs, 155 helicopters, and 194 aircraft”
“What are NATO’s losses?”
“NATO hasn’t arrived yet…”
Also, why would anyone send ships to the Black Sea to sort out the Russian Navy when a country without a navy managed to sink the Moskva?
mcswell
May 4, 2022 at 9:33 am
Love it! Thanks for sharing, and if there are more such stories, please post them.
Eric
May 3, 2022 at 11:15 pm
Thank you for the article, Dr. Motyl.
“In Putin’s eyes, Ukraine and Ukrainians must not exist, and he is obviously willing to resort to mass killings in order to achieve that goal. Meanwhile, Putin’s regime is openly fascist, and his own legitimacy and power rest on his ability to enable Russia and Russians to demonstrate greatness by slaughtering their neighbors.
“Public opinion polls show that Russians overwhelmingly support Putin and his war. There is every reason to suppose that such a leader, sitting atop such a regime, will escalate hostilities if Ukraine falls. Russia will attack other countries in the former Soviet bloc.”
Information warfare is being waged by Russian trolls, including right here on 19fourtyfive.com. It is 6:15am in St. Petersburg and Moscow so I am sure Alex and his coworkers will soon be having their morning coffees and bringing you the ridiculous comments that we have known them for.
Eric
May 3, 2022 at 11:17 pm
Commentar, you obviously love Putin. Are you on the night shift? Or maybe a different time zone?
MAGA MAGA
May 4, 2022 at 12:33 am
The US is being run by a bunch of liars and crooks who were aided by the deep state that rigged the November 2020 US presidential election.
They put an 80-year-old living stiff in the oval office and now he’s hatching untold chaos and havoc in ukraine with the ultimate soon or yet to come.
All this wouldn’t be happening if trump were still in power.
The year will end with ukraine turning into a wasteland thanks to NATO weapons and american nuclear bombs. Hell’s coming for the warmongers.
MAGA MAGA
May 4, 2022 at 12:35 am
The US is being run by a bunch of liars and crooks who were aided by the deep state that rigged the November 2020 US presidential election.
They put an 80-year-old living stiff in the oval office and now he’s hatching untold chaos and havoc in ukraine with the ultimate soon or yet to come.
All this wouldn’t be happening if trump were still in power.
The year will end with ukraine turning into a wasteland thanks to NATO weapons and american nuclear bombs. Hell’s coming for the warmongers.
Joe Comment
May 4, 2022 at 1:19 am
Maga Maga: Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014 and the chaos and havoc there continued throughout Trump’s entire term. Trump launched numerous lawsuits claiming the 2020 election was rigged, all of which were thrown out of court, often by judges belonging to his own political party. As for the “80-year-old living stiff,” you’re free to underestimate the US President as much as you want.
We do agree on one thing. Hell’s coming for the warmongers. Here’s a clue: if the government you lead is arresting people for holding demonstrations for peace, you might be a warmonger.
from Russia with love
May 4, 2022 at 4:49 am
“Maga Maga: Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014 and the chaos and havoc there continued throughout Trump’s entire term.”
year 2014? is this the same year when the United States staged a bloody coup d’état in Ukraine and overthrew the legitimately elected president by neo-Nazi forces?
“Here’s a clue: if the government you lead is arresting people for holding demonstrations for peace, you might be a warmonger.”
everything is fine 😉 you call democratic power that massively kills dissenters.
CK
May 4, 2022 at 6:37 am
Classic whattaboutism.
Uh, but, but, you guys do stuff too! And so do all these other people! Don’t look at what’s happening in Russia, Ukraine, now, look at what happened elsewhere, this uhhh.. other time.
from Russia with love
May 6, 2022 at 4:43 am
Didn’t the coup of 2014 take place in Ukraine? maybe Odessa, Kyiv, Kharkov, Mariupol, Kherson – this is not Ukraine?
decide, do you want to see what is happening in Ukraine or enjoy the myths composed by the Ukrainian junta?
let’s look at what is happening in Azovstal;) yesterday, the “wars of light” “heroically defending the plant” announced that they would not let civilians out of the plant and would exchange 15 hostages for a ton of food and medical supplies (they say that there are still from 100 to 200 civilians).
With that in mind, I have two questions for you.
1) How are these terrorists different from other hostage-taking terrorists?
2) if civilians are taken hostage, is it definitely their land and their civilian population?
Genitalia
May 4, 2022 at 3:24 am
This read’s like it came from the governments new misinformation board. The US should not be in Ukraine! period. NATO has been pushing east closer to Russia boarder for years, a coup by the Obama admin in Ukraine and the west is threatening Russia’s border. The Duram investigation into Russia gate is scaring the deepstate who have wanted war with Russia for a long time.
Anyone who cant see the election was stolen is a fool and should be given no credibility. Those who wait for the truth to be handed to them on a silver platter by liars, is a dam fool.
Lance Benson
May 4, 2022 at 6:06 pm
Russia’s border is no more threatened by NATO than Belgium’s is by France or Germany or the Netherlands, and Belgium has been invaded and fought over even more than Russia has. No one in the West has wanted war with Russia–it would be lose/lose and there’s no point in thinking that one side might “lose” less than its opponent.
As far as the election goes, the courts haven’t seen evidence of it being stolen, Trump’s Attorney General didn’t see it, Republican governors and election officials didn’t see it, Trump’s election oversight office didn’t see it, Trump’s Vice President didn’t see it. Perhaps you’re the blind one (sadly, you have company).
Him
May 4, 2022 at 7:56 am
Let’s learn from history, so that we do not repeat its mistakes.
In the lead-up to WW2, there were 3 characters:
– Winston Churchill
– Neville Chamberlain
– The Russian-Hitler alliance
Today’s vast number of opinions fall roughly into these 3 groups.
People like Alex-the-troll, who is a regular on this website, don’t realise how similar he is to the ordinary Russian and German citizens in WW2 who followed their Stalin-Hitler alliance.
Back in WW2, if you were to speak with a German or Russian person who supported the Hitler-Stalin alliance, they would sound exactly like Alex-the-troll. After all, Alex is a direct descendant of those Russians who allied with the Nazi Germans. Alex is bred from Nazi collaborator grandfathers and great-grandfathers.
Back in WW2, there was no ability to reason logically with Russians and Germans who supported their Stalin-Hitler alliance. Similar, you see the logic of Russian trolls today. It comes entirely from their Russian mindset, which makes perfect sense to the Russian-mind, but the rest of the world sees it as evil.
Remember in WW2, the Russian style of warfare was they were willing to push forward millions of their own Russian people for slaughter, as a method of winning. The Russian mindset is the same over the years. Russian thinking has not changed. Like Stalin, today’s Russian dictators like Putin are fully willing to see their own Russian cities nuked, if it meant that the entire West is destroyed too.
The Russian mindset is that, even if Moscow, St. Petersburg and Volgograd are nuked, the Russian state will grow back from the millions of survivors in other Russian cities. So the Russian-mind really does not care if their fellow Russians are nuked.
For example, I am guessing that Alex-the-troll has not one bit of concern that millions of fellow Russians would die in Moscow and the largest Russian cities. This is why the average Russian citizen has been programmed by an evil Dictatorship to think in this evil thought-pattern. They cannot see it in themselves, beacuse their culture is like that.
To our logical minds, we cannot fathom such evil – but we foolishly forget that the Putin-brain works the same as the Hitler-brain. To both Putin and Hitler, it means nothing to these men that their own countries would be wiped out by nuclear missiles. And the people who support Stalin, Hitler and Putin, their mind thinks the same way. All these evil people, in their own minds, think they are doing the best for their country.
Then there are the appeasers like Neville Chamberlain. A frequent Chamberlain-type comment is – that Zelensky should surrender in order to save lives. We have people like that today.
In the Bible’s last book – the Book of Revelation – it predicts in prophecy that, in the End Times, one third of the world’s population is killed through war and plague. Sadly, the Book of Revelation predicts that, even then, the evil of mankind did not repent (Revelation 9:13-20).
There are people like Alex, who think it is good that his Russia was first to attack peaceful nations. Back in WW2, so many German citizens thought the same way. They were thrilled with news of Germany’s victories as it conquered European country after country. That’s the same with modern Russian people.
Such people, with evil hearts, the Bible says — they did not repent (Revelation 9:20).
The first step of repenting is to acknowledge that one is wrong – and, as you can see, people like Alex are far from repenting in their rejoicing that their Russia is attacking other peaceful nations.
The biggest like, that Russians believe, is they think every other nation wants to attack Russia. Alex, no one in the West talks about wanting to attack Russia. This is the mindset that imprisons Russians into behaving like North Koreans.
Alex
May 4, 2022 at 7:59 am
William Scott Ritter, Jr. is an American military analyst. Intelligence officer in the United States Marine Corps. He served in this position for about 12 years. He became the Marine Rapid Deployment Force’s lead analyst on the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Iran-Iraq War. United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq.
During Desert Storm, he served as an adviser to General Norman Schwarzkopf on ballistic missiles. Ritter later worked as a security and military consultant for the Fox News network. According to an interview he gave to Democracy Now! in 2003, he also had a long official relationship with the British foreign intelligence agency MI6.
If the Bandera Nazis start squealing that he was bought by Putin, then let them shove their squeal up their ass.
Here are Scott Ritter’s words:
“Do you want to name the best students of military science today? These are Russian officers! And we treat them like children – “these are Russians.” And they are the most educated and trained officers of all who can be found. They understand everything better than us. They didn’t spend 20 years kicking down doors and slaughtering families in Iraq or crawling up hills in Afghanistan to kill a shepherd, that’s what we did, and the Russians think big.
We think in small arrows. We watch a video of how a Russian column is destroyed or three tanks are knocked out. War is hell, people die there, and if you look at the little arrows, you will think that the Russians are defeated. But look at the big arrows! The Russians kept the 100,000-strong group of Ukraine in Kyiv. If they are not threatened, they will move forward for reinforcements.
Therefore, you (Russians) send 40 thousand soldiers from Belarus and hold the enemy in place. You have 80,000 enemy forces in Odessa, you send 30,000 soldiers from Crimea – their (Security Council of Ukraine) group is stuck. You have 100,000 enemies in the Donbass, and you, the Russian troops, cannot let them go to Kyiv. You send the militia of Donetsk and Lugansk to the front line. The most difficult situation! But you clung to the enemy and hold him, don’t let him move!
You are conducting a through attack to break through the corridor to the Crimea. And Mariupol is a key city on the way, we had to take it. The only city for which the Russians fought. Why? Because he was the only one that mattered. The rest played no role.
You will not take 3 million Kyiv with a force of 40 thousand. It doesn’t happen! You will not take 1.6 million Kharkiv with a force of 50 thousand. But you will take Mariupol. They had to take it. This was a strategic necessity.
This whole phase was the preparation of the battlefield. The Russians have destroyed fuel storage facilities in Ukraine. What is a tank without fuel? Coffin! And the truck? Another coffin. Warehouses of ammunition and food are blown up. A soldier who is hungry and thirsty will be killed.
The Russians have rearranged everything for themselves in order to prepare for a massive pincer attack that will fall into the forces of the Ukrainians, who will have no food, no water, no fuel, no ammunition. Here’s what the second phase will look like.
The Russians have moved away from Kyiv, they no longer need to hold that grouping, it will not be able to move without fuel anyway. They’re stuck! If they leave the city, Russian aircraft will destroy them. There will be no reinforcements, the enemy in Donbas cannot move. They are trapped.
The Russians have closed the ring and will destroy everyone. Or they will capture a huge part of the Ukrainian army. And when that happens, there will be nothing left. And the Russians will be able to demand whatever they want. That’s why I say the Russians will win. Because I see the situation. I do not flatter myself with the illusions that “the Russians could not take Kyiv and Odessa.” THEY DIDN’T TRY!”
Alex
May 4, 2022 at 8:00 am
German journalist Thomas Röper: Ukrainians are very afraid that the Russians will leave.
The journalist spoke about the distortion of facts in the Western media:
“I was three times in the south (Ukraine). The first trip was also to Melitopol. And so, on this trip, I was most impressed by the fact, or the fear that you see there in the eyes of people. And not among those who do not agree with the military operation, and according to my estimates, this is a minority. It is they who swear, the camera writes, and they will say how much they disagree. And those who agree are the majority.
I see it in the squares, when there are hundreds of people, they walk past the soldiers and say in a whisper: “Thank you guys, don’t leave.” They are very afraid, and they said it directly. They are very afraid that the Russians will leave and there will be reprisals. What, in my understanding, happened in Bucha, by the way.
And the fact that now, Alina said, from Mariupol is another such example. The woman was afraid to just speak the truth. Afraid that, God forbid, the Russians would leave and there would be reprisals. I don’t want to take too much time now, I just want to give one example, because the West always says it’s Russian propaganda if they say that Azov and other units of the Ukrainian troops use civilians as a “human shield”.
I write in German, and the other day I read an article in the German magazine Spiegel, which is probably known to many. And there was a very surprising offer. So they wrote… Everything, of course, sounded very positive, but they wrote that in Mariupol… More precisely, they (the newspaper) were told by people in Zaporozhye who had come from Mariupol, telling them that their national battalions held them, “politely of course”, held peaceful residents to the basement, and took positions in the apartments above these basements. It sounds in the Western media as if they are protecting them. Excuse me, what is this? If the fighters take up their combat positions above the basements where civilians are sitting, and how voluntarily they went to this basement.
Most people know the truth, but the Western media do not need this truth, they have a different manual, you need to do everything the other way around, and if it doesn’t work out the way America wants, you get sanctions, but the EU countries, not Russia, they will die after the first package of sanctions.
Eric
May 4, 2022 at 8:15 am
Well clearly the Russian fascist troll day shift has been at work spreading their misinformation again. LOL
Him
May 4, 2022 at 8:29 am
Alex, stop talking of Ukrainian Bandera-Nazis, and give us your comments on Russian Stalin-allied-to-Hitler Nazis from WW2.
Him
May 4, 2022 at 8:32 am
Alex, are you so ashamed of what your Russian grandfathers and great-grandfathers did being allies with Nazi Hitler, that you push it out of your mind, pretending it never happened?
Alex, tell me the number of Bandera-Nazis in Ukraine?
Then, tell me the number of the nation of Russia that allied with Hitler Nazis.
You pretend it never happened.
That is Alex being in denial.
Your own family supported Russia being allies with Nazi-Germany. You, Alex, you are the big Nazi. Your own family. Nazi-thinking runs in your blood. This is why you think and write like a Nazi.
Alex
May 4, 2022 at 8:32 am
Finally our lands are back!
The ex-deputy of the Rada announced the beginning of the “attachment” of the west of Ukraine to Poland.
Ex-deputy of the Rada Ilya Kiva announced the first stage of the annexation of Western Ukraine by Poland.
“This is the first stage before secession and the creation of a “pro-Western Ukraine” with its capital in Lviv. With subsequent accession, through a referendum, to Poland,” he said.
According to the ex-people’s deputy, Kyiv has changed the strategy for the use of weapons that it receives from Europe. Now they are not transported to the war zone, but left in the west. Thus, a “new line of defense” is being formed, thanks to which it will be possible to achieve the annexation of this region by Poland, Kiva believes.
Last week, the head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, said that Poland intends to establish tight military-political control over “its historical possessions” in western Ukraine. According to him, Warsaw expects that the consolidation in these territories will most likely lead to a split in the country, and Poland will receive control over the lands occupied by “peacekeepers”.
Him
May 4, 2022 at 8:33 am
Alex, are you so ashamed of what your Russian grandfathers and great-grandfathers did being allies with Nazi Hitler, that you push it out of your mind, pretending it never happened?
Alex, tell me the number of Bandera-Nazis in Ukraine?
Then, tell me the number of the nation of Russia that allied with Hitler Nazis.
You pretend it never happened.
That is Alex being in denial.
Your own family supported Russia being allies with Nazi-Germany. You, Alex, you are the big Nazi. Your own family. Nazi-thinking runs in your blood. This is why you think and write like a Nazi.
Alex
May 4, 2022 at 10:11 am
Powerless anger, Goebbels’ lies, distortion of the past and present, the help of “the whole world” did not help the Bandera Nazis to break the Ukrainians! Now Ukrainians and Russians will clear the east and center of Bandera bastards, and we, the Poles, will clear the west of the country! Everything goes according to plan.
RogerBacon
May 4, 2022 at 11:05 am
Hey Alex the Troll. Do you still get paid the same amount when you just quote people like William Scott Ritter instead of writing your own stuff? You can’t say Western media is propaganda and then quote one yourself. Either – or.
Alex
May 4, 2022 at 11:17 am
A troll is people like you who publish fabricated propaganda and lies. I quote respected people. What, you can’t support Bandera Nazism? Bastards.
Director Oliver Stone described the scenario of US nuclear sabotage.
The author of the films “Ukraine on Fire” and “In the Struggle for Ukraine” noted that now the West is already masterfully and with the use of brute force is waging an information war against Russia.
American director Oliver Stone said that the most gloomy scenario for the development of the conflict in Ukraine remains a nuclear provocation by the United States. He shared this message on Twitter.
According to him, in this case, Washington will not even have to cover its tracks, since Russia is considered to be the main initiator of all atrocities. Stone wondered if the United States was creating “the conditions for a high-yield nuclear explosion of unknown origin somewhere in the Donbass” that would incur the deaths of thousands of Ukrainians.
“Of course, if this, God forbid, happens, the whole world, like Pavlov’s trained dog, will blame Russia for everything. This guilt has already been established in advance, regardless of who presses the button,” the director wrote.
The United States deliberately hushed up the crimes of the Kyiv regime against the civilian population in Ukraine, which have been going on since 2014, Stone recalled. He also stressed that now the West “with skill and brute force” is waging an information war against Russia.
Earlier, US General Mark Milley said that the likelihood of a clash between the great powers is growing. The military also spoke about the events in Ukraine, calling them the biggest security threat in Europe, and possibly the whole world, for “more than 40 years of his military career.”
Him
May 4, 2022 at 12:19 pm
Alex, are you so ashamed of what your Russian grandfathers and great-grandfathers did being allies with Nazi Hitler at the start of WW2, that you push it out of your mind, pretending it never happened? (At the end of WW2, both were fighting each other – but at the start of WW2, the Russians were allies with Nazi Hitler).
Alex, tell me the number of Bandera-Nazis in Ukraine?
Then, tell me the number of the nation of Russia that allied with Hitler Nazis.
You pretend it never happened.
That is Alex being in denial.
Your own family supported Russia being allies with Nazi-Germany. You, Alex, you are the big Nazi. Your own family. Nazi-thinking runs in your blood. This is why you think and write like a Nazi.
RogerBacon
May 4, 2022 at 12:39 pm
“A troll is people like you who publish fabricated propaganda and lies.” – Alex the Troll
I don’t publish anything from other sources. I give my own thoughts. I just wish I got paid for it like you do.
CK
May 4, 2022 at 12:51 pm
It’s pointless to argue with this troll. He is not here for engagement, as he has realised recently pretty much everybody on this board is against him. He has been transparently exposed as the exceedingly obvious Internet Research Agency employee he is, working for Yevgeny Prigozhin – an oligarch with close ties to Putin.
He is either operating out of the IRA headquarters building at 55 Savushkina Street, St.Petersburg if he is lucky, or more likely, out of a shed in the massive Arsenal Machine-Building Factory at Komsomol, 1-3, also St.Petersburg, if he is unlucky.
I gather the latter, seeing as he is exceedingly stupid and dim-witted, as you have noticed. His tactics are fairly simple:
Paragraphs and paragraphs of bollocks, dubious claims about “independent journalists”, random documentarians, conspiracy theorists, deluded claims that of course, have no backup, lie after lie after lie.
Classical Kremlin troll approach. Just flood the internet, the comments, the media, with tosh, doesn’t matter what it is, just make sure you write some old nonsense. Make sure to say the claim is supported by some dude in Germany, France, the states. If it’s a “documentary” (usually from youtube) then the better.
Anything that victimises Russia, always the victim, always the bullied, never the problem. It’s always the Nazis. It’s always some pseudo-historical point.
Anyone that has had the misfortune to study his “tactics” sees the forest for the trees, the pattern of lies, disinformation, blanketing of random claims, deflection, obfuscation, and other words beyond your vocabulary.
It’s hopeless Alex. Your lies are as short as your intellect. What a pathetic job, to sit in your government shed, spreading your pathetic, government lies.
A pathetic job for a truly pathetic man. A better match could not be made in heaven.
Having realised he can’t gain traction on this board now, he has resorted to two simple strategies:
1) Be the first to comment on any article. This ensures anyone reading the article for the first time will inevitably stumble upon whatever his message of the day is, before it gets buried.
2) Ideally, be the LAST person to comment on any article. Have the last say. For the same reasons as above. If there is a large discussion, people will usually scroll all the way down, and voila, you see his targeted message again.
And that’s it. Every day, he blankets every article with the same copy + pasted content, over and over again. Saturation. This is how he ensures the message is seen one way or another.
Funnily enough, if you copy + paste some of his bollocks onto google, you find other websites where you can almost verbatim find 100% matches. These are either Alex himself operating elsewhere, or the “daily script” these idiots are given by their supervisors to disseminate for this day, sent by other colleagues. You can find dozens of duplicates on similar websites.
Unfortunately, the shoddy or non-existent moderation and supervision of this website allows this to happen day, after day, after day. Anywhere else, he would have been banned by now.
To know more, one can google Internet Research Agency, look up the guardian article published a few days ago on the troll factories in St.Petersburg, and also look up the account by an ex employee who spoke about it.
Very illuminating stuff!
Alex
May 4, 2022 at 1:34 pm
Hysteria, fantasies, lies, madness – this is all that is left of the Bandera trolls. These bastards can’t even comment on the words of respected people all over the world. Project “Ukraine” is closed forever.
CK
May 4, 2022 at 3:52 pm
And yet, it’s still MORE than what’s left of Russians in Ukraine!
Stefan Stackhouse
May 4, 2022 at 3:53 pm
The lessons of WWII regarding appeasement are not applicable now, for the simple reason that Hitler didn’t have nukes, but Putin does. That change things.
As for those pinning their hopes on Russian regime change: What makes you think that whoever replaces Putin will be any “better”. They will be new and will be needing to demonstrate their own toughness, resolve, etc. If anything, they might be worse. I do not mean to disparage the whole of the Russian people, but on the other hand, the many “soldiers” who committed all these war crimes were doing so on their own initiative, and acting on their own inclinations. There is a reason why the Russian nation has produced such “leaders” and such “soldiers”.
If we can reinforce Ukraine enough so that they can at least hold their line and not lose any more territory, we will be doing well. If we can reinforce our NATO allies to the point where even a delusional tyrant in the Kremlin will see that it is foolish to even try to attack, then we will be doing even better. It would be best to just leave it at that, and to count ourselves lucky if we can manage to get through this crisis that well.
GhostTomahawk
May 4, 2022 at 4:08 pm
Western leaders do not have the backbone expertise or attention span to fight in a real protracted war with another world super power. Elections will come polls will come and politicians will be heading for the exits. Just like Afghanistan.
The best thing America can do is say “this is it. No more. You’re on your own”
Alex
May 5, 2022 at 8:09 am
The offer of Ukrainian militants at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol to exchange civilians there for food and medicine is very similar to the demands put forward by the terrorists.
As for the similar demands of the nationalists who are hiding in the underground premises of the Azovstal plant, then, of course, they are very similar to similar demands that were previously voiced by terrorists in Syria and in other places.
The remnants of the Ukrainian military group are securely blocked along the entire perimeter of Azovstal. Russian troops are not storming the territory of the plant, but they are suppressing the attempts of the militants blocked there to reach the firing points.
The flags of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Russia and Chechnya are set over the entire city of Mariupol. The city is completely under the control of the special military operation forces.
The whole world sees how Bandera Nazis show their true colors. A driven rat will destroy itself sooner or later.
CK
May 5, 2022 at 9:48 am
Latest reports is that the latest attack has (yet again) been repelled. At this rate, Ukraine might actually be able to relieve them if the orcs continue their senseless assaults.
Also, I don’t think you understand what “completely” means Alex. In one paragraph, you agree there are still Ukrainians in Mariupol, and then the next, claim the city is “completely” secured.
Doublethink much?
from Russia with love
May 6, 2022 at 4:51 am
terrorists blocked at Azovstal continue to beg to save them and blackmail the Russian troops with civilians taken hostage. pitiful and disgusting sight.
at that time, public transport began to function in Mariupol. shops and schools are open.
Alex
May 6, 2022 at 12:46 pm
German journalist Thomas Röper: Ukrainians are very afraid that the Russians will leave.
The journalist spoke about the distortion of facts in the Western media:
“I was three times in the south (Ukraine). The first trip was also to Melitopol. And so, on this trip, I was most impressed by the fact, or the fear that you see there in the eyes of people. And not among those who do not agree with the military operation, and according to my estimates, this is a minority. It is they who swear, the camera writes, and they will say how much they disagree. And those who agree are the majority.
I see it in the squares, when there are hundreds of people, they walk past the soldiers and say in a whisper: “Thank you guys, don’t leave.” They are very afraid, and they said it directly. They are very afraid that the Russians will leave and there will be reprisals. What, in my understanding, happened in Bucha, by the way.
And the fact that now, Alina said, from Mariupol is another such example. The woman was afraid to just speak the truth. Afraid that, God forbid, the Russians would leave and there would be reprisals. I don’t want to take too much time now, I just want to give one example, because the West always says it’s Russian propaganda if they say that Azov and other units of the Ukrainian troops use civilians as a “human shield”.
I write in German, and the other day I read an article in the German magazine Spiegel, which is probably known to many. And there was a very surprising offer. So they wrote… Everything, of course, sounded very positive, but they wrote that in Mariupol… More precisely, they (the newspaper) were told by people in Zaporozhye who had come from Mariupol, telling them that their national battalions held them, “politely of course”, held peaceful residents to the basement, and took positions in the apartments above these basements. It sounds in the Western media as if they are protecting them. Excuse me, what is this? If the fighters take up their combat positions above the basements where civilians are sitting, and how voluntarily they went to this basement.
Most people know the truth, but the Western media do not need this truth, they have a different manual, you need to do everything the other way around, and if it doesn’t work out the way America wants, you get sanctions, but the EU countries, not Russia, they will die after the first package of sanctions.