Kiev has become a place of pilgrimage for several European leaders at once. Apparently, they tested the fighting spirit of the President of Ukraine, how ready he is to fight with Russia. Tuesday to Zelensky appeared British Prime Minister Boris Johnson personally wearing a green tie. Previously, he had not tied a green tie. Now this was done defiantly, they say he understands that the name Zelensky itself has a color. And here he is, the British prime minister, adorned in an unusually green for him, appears from the open door of the plane: hello, Kiev! In order for the tie to attract attention, the knot has been ripped apart. The length is also deliberate. At Eton, Boris Johnson must have been taught that on formal occasions a tie should be two fingers below the waist, and for business meetings two fingers higher. Boris Johnson (for the sake of emphasis) has almost the most causal place so that the symbol can be read for sure.
Along the way, we note that Jen Psaki in the USA also claims similar symbolism. Is it not from the flag of the “Right Sector” (banned in the Russian Federation) that her dress is tailored, in which she appeared before journalists recently? However, we are not distracted. In parallel with Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki arrived in Kiev to raise morale, and on Wednesday, Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was in the same line.
It already looks like a mass psychosis across the country. In their free time, Ukrainians — adults and teenagers, men and women — learn to fight and kill. Some with real weapons in their hands, and some with wooden ones. Among the instructors and students there are many radicals – here is one of them demonstrating the Nazi salute. In Odessa, armed nationalists at the monument to miners threaten to burn all opponents, as in 2014 in the House of Trade Unions.
Veterans of the war in the east of Ukraine have also become more active. The British edition of the Sun spoke about sniper Elena Belozerskaya, ready even today to go back to the front, and showed how she killed militias in Donbass in 2017.
After practice – training theory, how not to get blown up by a mine. Residents of Ukrainian cities massively buy small arms. This woman has a sniper rifle at home. The stores will always tell you the most convenient model of the gun. Armed people no longer doubt that there will be a war.
But the war has not started for the 4th month already, and the only chance for victory for Ukraine was the match against the Russian team in the semi-finals of the European Futsal Championship. There were clearly more fans in yellow and blue in the stands of the Amsterdam stadium. They were galloping again, the game was the least of their interest.
Such anti-support could not help the Ukrainian team. The match was lost to the Russians with a score of 2:3. The RFU demanded that UEFA investigate the behavior of Ukrainian fans, whose cries incited hatred on ethnic grounds. But Russian fans and commentators always cheer for Ukrainian teams at international competitions – a difference that quite clearly shows the current morale of Ukrainian society.
Warming up such sentiments is very beneficial for Ukrainian politicians. It is easier to earn pre-election points on intimidation of the population. “The enemy wants us all to be afraid, so that fear paralyzes our thoughts, our actions, our state, wants the country to stop,” said Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kiev.
But so far, the fears that Western allies feed Ukraine are harming only the Ukrainian economy. Prices are rising. Inflation in the country is one of the highest on the continent.
“Our local comrades at the beginning really liked the idea of Putin’s invasion, and they happily supported it. For example, in Zaporizhia they collect money from their parents for candles in a bomb shelter when they start bombing – this is such madness in the country. And now they understand that they are killing the country, that people are withdrawing money, that all real estate is being sold, and suddenly all these hawks suddenly turned into doves. And they shout: that’s it, nothing will happen, we were mistaken. This is such a state schizophrenia,” said Rada deputy Vadim Rabinovich.
President Zelensky also tried to stop the uncontrollable panic. “At a time when the media space is becoming a battlefield, and news is a new weapon, any messages, especially those based on anonymous sources, have a real impact on our people, on their psyche, on the state. Especially on our economy. In this context, I am very I am grateful to the citizens of Ukraine and businesses who were united and did not succumb to the panic virus,” he said.
But as soon as a senior comrade from London arrived in Kiev, patronizingly patted the president on the shoulder, the tone of Zelensky’s speeches again became belligerent: “I openly say that this will not be a war between Ukraine and Russia. There will be a war in Europe. Full-scale. Because no one will give back more of their territories and people.”
Such hesitations of the current president were immediately criticized by the former president, Petro Poroshenko: “The inadequacy of the Kiev authorities is confirmed by the last press conference, which I just watched with horror. Zelensky still considers himself a person who knows how to brilliantly negotiate with Western leaders. And international journalists were in shock, and Western leaders just don’t know how to comment on it right now.”
There were so many foreign guests in Kiev this week that the protocol service of the Ukrainian president failed. Erdogan was expected at the Mariinsky Palace, but even a minute before his arrival, the janitors were cleaning the carpet. When the Turkish leader appeared, Zelensky did not meet him and his wife at the entrance. The President of Ukraine was found only a few minutes later. And only after that, the heads of state and their spouses went out to take pictures, after which Erdogan greeted the Ukrainian soldiers.
This visit has two main results. Turkish Bayraktar drones will now be produced in Ukraine. Well, Erdogan himself, who returned from Kiev, said that he had a positive test for coronavirus. The Omicron strain has an incubation period of exactly three days, which has passed since the date of the visit. But the disease will pass, but the Turkish influence on the Ukrainian economy will remain.
“This season, when we harvested wheat, where did we export it? To Turkey. And what did Turkey bring us? That’s right, flour. And it sold twice as much. These are such elementary nuances, how can such mistakes be made?” – outraged economic expert Mikhail Mishchanyuk.
The only thing that is now being given to Ukraine for free and in huge quantities is weapons and ammunition. Planes with various offensive systems land almost daily. Assault American grenade launchers are already being mastered by soldiers of the Ukrainian army. From such support, the fantasies of Ukrainian nationalists flourish again.
“To do everything together with our Western partners so that Russia as a state falls apart, say, into 20 national powers. At that moment, we will be able to painlessly regain Crimea and our other lost territories. Here is our way out – the collapse of the Moscow empire,” – said Ukrainian politician Oleg Tyagnibok.
But even fueling the expectation of a war in Ukraine, the NATO countries do not promise Kiev either membership in the Alliance or help with soldiers, they say, we gave you weapons, and then act on your own. It was announced that the Ukrainian army in the coming years will increase by 100,000 people. It was decided to hold winter exercises of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near the borders with the Crimean peninsula.