Ukraine

Some things about recent events in the Ukraine that are not widely understood.

• Russia has suffered three terrible invasions from the West. The French armies burned Moscow in the 19th century. Germans armies invaded twice in the twentieth century. In 1941, the German armies reached Moscow and the Russians took a million casualties defending their capital. The United States got paranoid when a building in New York was destroyed in 9/11. Have foreign armies invade the heartland your nation three times and besiege it, would really affect your psyche.

• In Hollywood, the United States won the Second World War. On the ground, the USSR was the major winner. More than 20 million Russians died driving Hitler’s Nazi forces out of Eastern Europe (US deaths were less than half a million). Naturally, they are not happy when Western leaders encourage the far right leaders back into the Ukraine again.

• Lenin and Stalin believe that the Communist Revolution would triumph throughout the world. So in a sense they wanted to create a world empire. Therefore, when they won significant territory in Eastern Europe, they stayed. Putin is far more realistic. He understands how weak Russia has become and that a Russian empire, even in Eastern Europe is not sustainable. His focus is on defending and building up the Russia homeland.

• Millions of Ukrainian civilians were killed during the battle between the Nazi and Soviet forces between 1933 and 1945. Many were killed by other Ukrainians. This has had a terrible spiritual effect, and many spirits of hatred and violence have made there home there. Many memories of violence and injustice are still strong. The associated guilt and hatred makes Ukraine a happy hunting ground for the Red Horse.
  

• Russia needs a warm water port to avoid having supplies cut off during the winter. This why Catherine the Great seized Crimea in 1783. The harbour at Sevastopol in the Black Sea gives Russian trade access to the Mediterranean Sea. Just as the US would never allow Canada to seize control of the St Lawrence Seaway, Russia will never give up control of Crimea. That is why Putin acted so quickly to secure it.

• Two of the richest Ukrainian oligarchs, Rinat Akhmentov and Dmitry Firtash, controlled 90 seats in the Ukrainian Rada (parliament) between them. They were cronies of President Yankukovych and he had looked after them. They saw the writing on the wall and switched their support to the opposition. This gave the Rada the majority it needed to depose the President. This was not a people’s revolution the media dream about, but oligarchs changing sides to protect their power and wealth.

• Putin is unlikely to invade Ukraine. He knows that is an economic basket case and would not be silly enough to take responsibility for it. The Ukraine needs access to Russian markets for its production. The Ukrainian economy needs discounted natural gas from Russian to survive. The new Ukranian leaders will have to beg for help from Putin, so he does not need to invade it.

• Many Ukrainians would like to part of the European Union. This is not because they are hankering for democracy. They have had democracy for twenty years, and all it has given them is poverty and corruption. The GDP of Ukraine is now 20 percent less than it was when the Soviet Union collapsed. They look at the relative prosperity of Poland next door and want some of it. They do not understand that their economy could not compete with German industry.

• The United States has offered a $1 billion dollar loan. That is not much help for a nation with debts of $30 billion that have to be repaid. The IMF is going to help too, but all it has to offer is austerity policies. The western powers will not be able to save the Ukrainian economy.

• Far right groups are emerging all over Europe. One of the groups leading the protests in Ukraine is Svobada, which has 36 deputies in the Rada. It began life as the Social National Party of Ukraine and has strong links with other far right parties in Europe.

• There are reports that some of the protesters were shot by radical members of far right militants, but this is already forgotten by history. It will record that the protestors were slaughtered by the Ukrainian security services, because that is what the western media wants to believe.

• Russia has suffered far more casualties to Islamic terrorist groups than the United States. So they are puzzled when John McCain pledges support for extreme Islamic groups in Syria and embraces far right groups in Ukraine.

• The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) spends $100 million dollars a year supporting democracy all over the world, but when push comes to shove, the United States ignores democracy. President Yanukovitch is a dodgy character who has lined his own pockets (like many politicians), but he was elected in a fair election in 2012. A greater percentage of the population voted for him than voted for Obama or George W. His part won a majority in the parliamentary elections in 2012. Yet the American government now supports his overthrow. So much for democracy?

• The British tried to invade Crimea in 1853 and failed. Now the UK foreign minister William Hague struts around Europe proclaiming what should happen in Crimea in his whining pompous voice. No one cares what the British thinks. Someone should tell him that he lost his empire in 1940.

Ukraine cannot be restored to peace and prosperity by political or military power. Only the gospel of Jesus can break down the barriers and only a vision of the Kingdom of God can restore what has been lost.