A year ago, a war began on a scale not seen since World War II – a presumed “bear versus mouse” scenario was expected to unfold. But things went terribly wrong in short order for the bear. A president and his wife did not flee but stayed at home with their people while a nation came under attack. Ordinary citizens assembled themselves into territorial defenses to defend their villages, towns, and cities. Musicians, dancers, office workers, farmers, housewives and others learned the art of battle, armed themselves accordingly and improvised explosive devices; a partisan movement was reignited, recalling a history long embedded in this country. A military fought back and regained much of what was initially lost. In the course of this very particular year, the country suffered much – lives were lost, children abducted, families displaced. Atrocities were committed – mass executions, rape, torture, destruction of homes, hospitals, and energy resources all for the purpose of appeasing a despot’s desire to restore an empire which history had chosen already to dismiss.
For the aggressor, not only did the mouse rise up to dash expectations of an easy victory and glorification of a regime in need of validation, but the conflict became relabeled appropriately as an attack upon democracy and a criminal act for which the invader must be held accountable. Much of the global community was inflamed by the naked barbarity of the attack and has united behind this condemnation. This was now to be a stand for democratic principles against an authoritarian regime deserving of isolation. Rather than fracturing NATO, the war has strengthened it. Its partners have coalesced and mobilized their resources to repel an enemy that asserted itself unjustifiably against a sovereign nation and upon the world stage. Both neighboring countries and those further abroad have shown their humanity absorbing and caring for the many displaced families forced to flee the terror.
The effort exerted by the international community to support Ukraine has sustained the fight that’s been needed to resist. Arms provided to a capable and determined military force have proven to be what is required to fight a war that can be won. This is the hill upon which Ukraine will make its stand; its resilience is undeniable now. For the rest of the world to understand, it is the hill upon which an evil regime must be put down to begin restoring an international order less encumbered by authoritarian-led schemes that serve to destabilize it. Only then, can Russia seek to find a path along which it can regain its integrity and ability to function as a member nation of a global community.
As with any sustained effort, public support is critical to maintain the necessary governmental funding required. Despite the self-evident arguments in the current circumstance of bringing criminals to justice, securing democratic values, reducing the threat of authoritarian regimes, and ending the financial drain in pursuing Russian interference globally, there are forces advocating an end to the support for Ukraine. The most recent effort took place following the Munich Security Conference with pro-Russian antiwar demonstrations conducted in Munich and Washington DC. Hundreds of onlookers were attracted to the latter event which, ironically, took place at the Lincoln Memorial. Among the demands made was a call to end funding for Ukraine as it has resulted in the killing of tens of thousands, the displacement of millions of people and the threat of nuclear war. Nothing was said of the fact that it has been Russia perpetrating a genocide upon the Ukrainian civilian population, recruiting criminals to fight as mercenaries in this invasion, uprooting masses of civilians ahead of a mounting terror, and threatening a sovereign state with annihilation if they do not bend to the will of a despot. Rather, arguments were made for building “a world that guarantees every person freedom from war and empire in place of the collapsing U.S. hegemonic world order.” All very laudable but how does one guarantee freedom when an authoritarian regime like that of Vladimir Putin’s chooses to conduct a crime against humanity? Several of the speaker-participants of this event supporting such nonsensical rhetoric have been Kremlin-funded through the television network Russia Today (RT), based in Moscow; others, including lesser-known political figures appearing at the event, have expressed pro-Russian and pro-Putin sentiments in the past with ill-framed and poorly informed suggestions of U.S. promotion of the current conflict.
Russia Today, the oft-cited major propaganda outlet for the Russian government, drew attention in 2014 when one of its Washington-based anchors, Liz Wahl, announced her resignation on-air, accusing RT of being “part of Putin’s propaganda network” and “whitewashing the actions of Putin.” She noted how RT was “promoting the foreign policy of somebody that has just invaded a country and is then lying about it.” David Z. Morris reported in Fortune that “RT provided a platform for various fringe theories or simply false narratives in American public discourse.” Shortly following the Russian invasion, RT lost the majority of its global cable and satellite coverage and ceased operations in early March 2022.
The Russian propaganda effort, replete with its false accusations, disinformation, and self-victimization typical of Putin’s regime, has paled in comparison to the reality of the situation that has presented itself in Ukraine. Video footage and commentary by innumerable foreign correspondents has demonstrated Russian brutality on its face with its deliberate targeting of civilian residential infrastructure, atrocities committed throughout eastern and central Ukraine, and the suffering wrought by mass civilian displacement, exposure, and loss of life. Beyond this, there are the displays of heroism and achievements on the front, the spontaneous songs of defiance in underground metro shelters, an elderly Ukrainian woman staring down and cursing Russian soldiers, thousands of foreign combatants standing alongside Ukrainians to confront the invader, people emerging from destroyed residences angrier and more defiant than before and, ultimately, disillusioned Russian soldiers wondering what they are actually accomplishing with this war.
Several social media platforms have provided countless visuals of the destruction of Russian armament, both on land and sea. Aerial views enabled by ubiquitous drones have shown active battle footage, some cleverly mixed with music emoting an elemental defiance by Ukrainians that seems also to pervade the entire front line. The failure of Russian military strategy noted both within the microcosm of these anecdotes in numerous Twitter accounts and in the general assessments of military experts has shed a favorable light upon the manner of support given to a nation that has fought back against tyranny – a reminder of the principles upon which the US itself stands.
The foreign press has actively pursued this story of war detailing not only the daily circumstances of existing in this sort of environment but creating perspectives of life in this conflict. A unique and well-executed documentary about an NFL 360 story of the Ukrainian League of American Football by Kyle Brandt brought home the story of players turned combatants in the war and personalized the nature of the commitment that ordinary people and athletes had toward their families and their country. A Frontline documentary followed displaced families surviving underground in Kharkiv and first responders working in a war zone reminded all of the imminent dangers of indiscriminate shelling of civilian dwellings. Another, with the help of The Associated Press, undertook a review of war crimes by the Russian military, particularly in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha. Amanda Macias of CNBC reported on the abduction and detention of Ukrainian children with forced adoption programs across Russia. The youngest child identified in such a program was 4 months of age; just as disturbing has been the military recruitment by Russia of children as young as 14 years. A number of YouTube stories have identified similar war crimes involving children. These presentations continue to flood out of this conflict, drowning attempts by Russian agencies and their “useful idiots” abroad to paint their self-indulgent fantasies of victimization.
President Biden’s recent visit to Ukraine has furthered the narrative of what this war has once more come to symbolize. Authoritarian regimes of the past century and now the current one, have attempted to impose themselves upon an international order to bend it to their will. They fail at the expense of their own country for they are ultimately brought to account to suffer the consequences. A changing world with its evolving technological resources and social media platforms provides the opportunity to be both informed and misinformed, to understand the history that underlies the truth or simply accept rhetorical and unsubstantiated atmospherics because they may suit one’s bias. The passage of time during a conflict does impose a fatigue and a desire to see an end. It weakens resolve and urges some toward ready solutions. It allows the perpetrator of a crime to gain ground and to escape accountability. Indeed, this is how Putin sees the West.
Many in the West see this war as a drawn-out affair, likely to end temporarily in some form of compromise, only to restart at a future date. Another perspective would argue much differently – an authoritarian regime that is defeated militarily and economically, its leaders hunted down and brought to justice and an injured country restored. Most importantly, with such an overthrow, the world might come to understand that willful aggression by warfare can be expected to meet a similar end and that the time has come for this lesson to be learned. Let all despots understand this and be made accountable. The trick at present is to see this war end definitively with the proper military support rendered to defeat the aggressor and for the media to continue its work to promote the truth and police the lies.
Copyright @Kost Elisevich, MD, PhD 2023. All rights reserved. Any illegal reproduction of this content will result in immediate legal action.
