Gorbachev left Russians and Ukrainians feeling like brothers; Putin has turned them into enemies, reflects the Israeli historian
After ordering the Russian army to invade Ukraine on February 24, Vladimir Putin is heading for a historic defeat. This is stated in a column Israeli historian Yuval Harari. For the professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, even if Russia wins all the battles, in the end he will lose the war.
“Less than a week into the war, It seems increasingly likely that Vladimir Putin is headed for a historic defeat. You can win all the battles but still lose the war & rdquor ;, begins Harari in his column published in ‘The Guardian’, where he also refutes the Russian president’s idea that Ukraine is not a royal nation and that most of its citizens want to be part of Russia.
“That is a complete lie: Ukraine is a nation with more than a thousand years of history, and Kiev was already a great metropolis when Moscow was not even a town. But the Russian despot has told his lies so many times that apparently he himself believes them & rdquor ; adds Harari.
For the Israeli intellectual, Putin seemed to have everything going for him. to execute a successful military operation on Ukrainian territory: knew that NATO would not send troops to Ukraine and that dependence on Russian oil and gas would contain Germany. For the Russian president everything would be simple: swift military action to establish a regime to order Moscow.
“But there was a big unknown about this plan. How Americans Learned Iraq and the Soviets in Afghanistan, it is much easier to conquer a country than to keep it. Putin knew that he had the power to conquer Ukraine. But, Would the Ukrainian people accept the Moscow puppet regime? Putin bet they would. After all, as he repeatedly explained to anyone who would listen, Ukraine is not a real nation and the Ukrainians are not a real people. In 2014, the people of Crimea barely resisted the Russian invaders. Why should 2022 be different? & rdquor ;, asks the historian.
Every day that Putin passes, a swamp sinks from which it will be difficult to get out, continues the intellectual, who does not hesitate to highlight the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people, which has earned worldwide admiration.
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“Every Russian tank destroyed and every Russian soldier killed increases the courage of the Ukrainians to resist. And every Ukrainian killed deepens the hatred for the invaders. Hate is the ugliest of emotions. But for oppressed nations, hate is a hidden treasure. Buried deep in the heart, it can sustain endurance for generations. To restore the Russian empire, Putin needs a relatively bloodless victory that leads to a relatively ruthless occupation. By shedding more and more Ukrainian blood, Putin is ensuring that his dream never comes true. It will not be the name of Mikhail Gorbachev written on the death certificate of the Russian empire: it will be that of Putin. Gorbachev left Russians and Ukrainians feeling like brothers; Putin has turned them into enemies and has ensured that the Ukrainian nation will define itself from now on in opposition to Russia & rdquor ;, writes Harari.
“The Russian despot should know this better than anyone. As a child, he grew up on a diet of stories about German atrocities and Russian bravery in the siege of Leningrad. He is now producing similar stories, but playing himself in the role of Hitler & rdquor ;, he points out.