Ukraine's Ongoing Existential Plight

"Europe looks lost. Just last year, here in Davos, I ended my speech with the words: Europe needs to know how to defend itself. A year has passed. And nothing has changed."

"We are still in a situation where I must say the same words again."

"[Ukrainians too seem caught in that reality in the war] repeating the same thing for weeks, months and, of course, for years. And yet that is exactly how we live now. It's our life."

"[Europe] still feels more like a geography, history, a tradition, not a real political force, not a great power."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 

Zelensky said repelling Monday night's attack had cost Ukraine about €80m (£69m) just in terms of air defence missiles  Reuters

 

In Kyiv, close to 3,000 multi-storey residential buildings are without heat. Some 600,000 residents of Kyiv have been evacuated in the wake of Moscow's recent blitz initiated on New Year's Day. This week, roughly 60 percent of the capital city of Ukraine had no electricity during the worst winter in recent years, with temperatures hovering at -10C. Misery lives on in Ukraine. And somehow, Ukrainians muster the endurance to go on. 

 

Ukraine's allies in Europe were treated to a blistering charge of lack of adequate engagement in protecting themselves by not doing more to protect Ukraine. The slow, fragmented, inadequate response to the invasion launched by Russia four years earlier and its ongoing international aggression by daring Europe to do anything about it has finally irked a man with the weight of his responsibilities to the point of exasperation with the very allies he so much depends upon.

Apartment buildings during subzero temperatures in Kyiv on Sunday. Oksana Parafeniuk for NBC News

 

Of course, Ukraine's ultimate fate also illustrates the potential of greater Europe's in the crosshairs of Vladimir Putin whose thirst for territorial gain will not be entirely quenched by an eventual success in looting territory from its neighbour. NATO and the European Union have thus far shown themselves to be less than fully engaged in rescuing one of their own -- if not in membership, then in solidarity with a sovereign nation aspiring to be one among them.

 

He had previously met once again privately with U.S. President Donald Trump in Davis. "Very good" talks, "Productive and meaningful", said Mr. Zelenskyy. And that could mean anything. It could mean that some hope still lies from that direction, and it could be a lie, to prevent his European allies from resigning themselves completely to surrendering all hope that slender threads remain before Ukraine is completely engulfed and their materiel aid has been for naught -- and  some among them are next in the lineup.

 

The financial, military and humanitarian support for Kyiv has been substantial, but against a much larger, better equipped military force, valiant Ukraine seems set for heavier territorial losses yet to come. Not all members of the 27-nation alliance are in support of Ukraine to be sure, but those that are can visualize their own sovereignty at risk, particularly those within the realm of Russia's unfortunate 'near abroad', the Baltic, Poland and the Nordic states. 

 

Sweden's security service said Russia's activities were mainly aimed at undermining Nato cohesion Getty Images

 

Since its February 2022 full invasion of  Ukraine, following initial kinetic hostilities in 2014, that gained Russia the annexation of Crimea, Russia has captured about 20 percent of Ukraine to the present. The 1,000-kilometre front line battles have still been an expensive gamble for the Kremlin with the Russian economy teetering under international sanctions, along with the cost of its invasion both in personnel and military hardware. 

 

Ukraine has proven adept in producing munitions of its own, in particular its drone manufacturing, but its need for financial aid from its allies is ongoing, as well as its dependence on Europe to continue providing it with the military weapons it so desperately ein need of to continue countering Russian advances; all the more so with its looming shortage of military operatives. 

 

Europe, Mr. Zelenskyy charged, has been too lax in acting on key decisions. It has spent too frugally on defence. Russia's 'shadow fleet' of oil tankers, breaking international sanctions have not been impeded as required. Worse, a consensus of agreement has not been reached for Russia's frozen assets to be used for finance Ukraine's battle for existence and eventual reconstruction. 

 

The world's attention, pivoting from Gaza and now to Iran has not been helpful in keeping Ukraine's plight under ongoing Russian attack front and centre, given a boost when President Trump began favouring Putin's war front over Ukraine's defense, which has now fizzled away, as the latest drama on the world stage continues to unfold, making Ukraine last week's news of diminished interest to a war-wearied global public. 

 

Poland, Sweden and others are buying subs to protect pipelines   Getty Images

Mr. "Not My Fault" At It Again

"[Anthony Rota made an] unforgivable error [in recognizing 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka as] a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero [just prior to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's address to Parliament Friday, leading to Members of Parliament and dignitaries present in the House to enthusiastically offer a standing ovation]."

"It's for that reason, for the good of the institution of the House of Commons that I say, sadly, I don't believe you can continue in this role."

"Regrettably, I must respectfully ask that  you step aside."

NDP House leader Peter Julian

"I want to apologize for what happened and really tell you that the intention was not to embarrass this House."

"My sincere apologies to the House [of Commons], to each and every one of you who are in the House today, and to all Canadians for having been put through this."

"I wish to make clear that no one, including fellow parliamentarians and the Ukraine delegation, was aware of my intention or of my remarks before I delivered them."

"I accept full responsibility for my actions."

Liberal Anthony Rota, Speaker of the House of Commons, Ottawa

Yaroslav Hunka (right) waits for arrival of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky  Alamy/Canadian Press

 

"What happened", of course was that the House Speaker surprised those present to welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the Canadian Parliament; they were present, along with parliamentarians and diplomats from other countries and invited guests to hear the Ukrainian president address the Canadian Parliament. Just prior to President Zelenskyy's address, Speaker Rota stood up and introduced the presence of a 98-year-old Ukrainian-Canadian, a former military officer, as a hero-veteran to be applauded.

Yaroslav Hunka, introduced as "a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero", was a member of Mr. Rota's North Bay constituency. Someone had obviously recommended the nonagenarian to be present for the welcome of the Ukrainian president to Canada, as a special, surprise treat, to honour a man for his long-past military service. To believe that Mr. Rota took this upon himself without consultation with the Prime Minister's Office is to be delusional. But then, Justin Trudeau has never heard of "the buck stops here".

Prime Minister Trudeau is accustomed to taking credit for anything that occurs that could conceivably be kind to his faltering reputation. Any events that continue to tarnish his future legacy and black-eye the Liberal government he heads are someone else's ill-doing, most unfortunate but not his problem. So that when a man is introduced and made much of ceremoniously and applauded for presumed service and courage, but then turns out to have been a member of a Nazi SS Division created for Ukrainian Nazi collaborators, it is an event beyond his ken.

 

Speaker of the House of Commons Anthony Rota issued a second apology on Monday before resigning on Tuesday   Reuters

 

When Mr. Trudeau was asked about apologizing himself for the invitation to a man who fought for Nazi Germany, embarrassing Canada on the world stage yet again, he merely shrugged and pointed out that Mr. Rota was the one involved, and his apology would suffice. Given the fact that the Privy Council Office and intelligence services scrutinize each and every invitee to Parliament, and that no antennae were raised of a man a simple Google search would identify as a Nazi collaborator, it's hard to take Mr. Trudeau seriously, nor should we.

Canadian Jewish groups publicly identified Mr. Hunka as having served in the First Ukrainian Division as an officer. Known as well as the Waffen SS Galicia Division, a purely voluntary unit comprised of Ukrainian nationals, operating under the direct command of the Nazi SS. The division "was responsible for the mass murder of innocent civilians with a level of brutality and malice that is unimaginable", observed the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies.

According to Mr. Rota, following the Friday event, he became aware of more information causing him to "regret" his decision, extending his "deepest apologies" to the Jewish community. The initiative to recognize Mr. Hunka, a member of his Nipissing-Timiskaming riding in northern Ontario, was "entirely" his own. Although government opposition parties criticized and blamed the governing Liberals for not having properly vetted the man and for placing them in a position where they applauded and celebrated someone associated with the Nazis, the reality is he would have been completely vetted.

Trudeau & Company simply felt that the optics of a 98-year-old veteran appearing before the Ukrainian president was too good a virtue-signalling opportunity to pass up. Like all the other bungled enterprises of the Liberal government, like appointing a racist antisemite to a position of training for civil servants in human rights, it seems just par for the course for them to think no one would notice through the euphoria of the moment that they were being exploited and manipulated for the greater good of the Trudeau agenda. "Russian disinformation" of course was behind the SS Waffen revelations.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Speaker Anthony Rota 'acknowledged his mistake' in inviting a Ukrainian who served in a Nazi unit to the House of Commons. Trudeau says he wants parliamentarians to refocus on standing against Russian propaganda and disinformation.  CBC

Speechless Incredulity, Putin!

"It's unbelievable but true. We are again being threatened by German Leopard tanks."

"Those who hope to defeat Russia on the battlefield do not understand, it seems, that a modern war with Russia will be very different for them."

"We are not sending our tanks to their borders, but we have the means to respond. It won't be limited to the use of armoured hardware. Everyone must understand this." 

"Now, unfortunately, we see that the ideology of Nazism, already in its modern guise, in its modern manifestation, again creates direct threats to the security of our country."   

"Again and again we have to repel the aggression of the collective West."

"It's incredible, but it's a fact: they are threatening us again with German Leopard tanks with crosses painted on their armour."

"And they are again going to fight Russia on the territory of Ukraine with the hands of Hitler's followers, the Banderites [WWII-era Ukrainian nationalists/Nazi collaborators]."

Russian President Vladimir Putin

President Putin laid a wreath at the Mamayev Kurgan memorial complex in Volgograd   Reuters

"Now Russia is concentrating its forces. We all know that. It is preparing to try to take revenge, not only against Ukraine, but against a free Europe and the free world."  

"We must do everything we can together so that next year - on the first Thursday of February - we will be able to pray simply with thanks for the obtained salvation from evil."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Russian service members drive a tank during a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the victory of Red Army over Nazi Germany's troops in the Battle of Stalingrad during World War Two, in Volgograd, Russia February 2, 2023. REUTERS/Kirill Braga

When the German command was given its orders to launch a surprise attack against its erstwhile member of the German Axis it took Russia by surprise. Russia, after all, had signed a pact with Nazi Germany bringing it into the orbit of fascist Germany to fight against the West. The German march on Russia changed its order of business, taking Russia over to the Allied side of the Second World War. Russia's friendly relations with Germany came to a scudding halt. And its resistance against the German invasion led the Allied war effort on Europe's Eastern Front.

 

At an enormous cost of human life; millions of Russians and Germans both perished in their monumental and bloody conflict. So do we now consider Russia to have back then been a fascist nation allied with Nazi Germany? Communism, after all, and fascism do have much in common; both degrade the human spirit. Germany's National Socialism German Workers Party had much in common with Communism, both purporting concern for the welfare of their people, both oppressive dictatorships, both historically irenic. 

It's just that Germany had larger plans than Russia in its quest for domination. Russia was content to subjugate Eastern Europe; Nazi Germany's plan was the complete subjugation of the entire continent -- for starters. Nazi Germany fell first. It took quite a bit longer for the Cold War to conclude with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The Hot War with Germany was dispensed with at an enormous cost of human life on a wider scale, not confined to the Russian interior.

A T-34 Soviet-era tank drives during a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the victory of Red Army over Nazi Germany's troops in the Battle of Stalingrad during World War Two, in Volgograd, Russia February 2, 2023. REUTERS/Kirill Braga

 

Germany has learned its lesson well; its state infrastructure, culture, and political system having undergone a massive helping hand mostly by the United States toward full recovery where its economy now leads that of all Europe; its ambitions to lead all of Europe forgotten. Whereas Russia at the split-up of the Soviet Union was unable to pull itself together and Moscow dreamed of returning to Soviet glory with Vladimir Putin at its helm.

Still a Communist state, still a fascist ideology. With Mr. Putin's throwing that detested word around as a dagger to smear any country that he believes has Russia's downfall in their to-do itinerary. So now Ukraine, anxious to join Western Europe in the European Union, and eager to become part of NATO, has become the Nazi state that Communist Russia must defeat lest its near presence infect Russia with fascist ideological threats and violence.

Pre-empting that paranoid illusion the Kremlin joined ranks with Vladimir Putin's ambitions to invade Ukraine just as Germany once did to Poland and France, spreading its occupation throughout Europe, while scheduling a bit of racist recreation in rounding up Jews, Roma, Seventh Day Adventists, Gays, the mentally and physically handicapped and political dissenters into slave labour camps and finally death camps. It was a gory, busy campaign for ambitious Aryan/Nordic-admiring Germany.

And here is present-day Russia accusing Germany of striving to re-visit history by once again invading Russian territory -- none other than the vast reaches of Ukrainian territory that Vladimir Putin has claimed as Russian territory. Of course this is strictly metaphorical; German battle tanks gifted to Ukraine to give it the opportunity to match occupying Russian tank numbers with an aim to shove the Russian military back into Russia. Aggressive, vicious Russia, relentlessly bombing Ukrainian infrastructure  and civilian enclaves.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Volgograd Region Governor Andrei Bocharov in Volgograd, Russia February 2, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS

 

Even Volga boatmen must be laughing at their histrionic president, calling out a country desperately attempting to defend itself from Russian drones, missiles and rockets hitting Ukrainian cities, apartment blocks, hospitals, kindergartens, shopping centres and power stations while Ukrainian citizens young and old freeze in the dark of winter and bewail the lack of clean, potable water, desperate medical shortages and growing food scarcity.

 

But there it is -- the hero of Russian aggression against former Soviet satellite states, envisions himself the second coming of Stalin-the-butcherer. He's made a good start by producing 8 million Ukrainian refugees scattered throughout Europe. Vladimir Putin the liberator of Ukraine. And his opponent,the Jewish President of Ukraine whom Putin labels fascist, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Nazi who heads a cabal of fascists threatening Russia.

 

Putin, who hisses to his European and North American detractors that this is a new era, and Russia is no pushover; threaten Russia and  you risk seeing its nuclear arsenal in action. Conventional warfare is a thing of the past; push Moscow too far, he sneers -- and risk the reality of a post-conventional conflict that will sear the world in bleak, black simmering ashes of destruction. Get the picture?

 

Russian nuclear missile Topol-M near the Kremlin