Heading into work on Thursday, I tuned in to CBC Radio in time to hear the Canadian prime minister and deputy prime minister address Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier that day.
And while Justin Trudeau is obviously our head of state, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland’s opening remarks resonated more deeply with me. Freeland, of Ukrainian descent, carried a lot more grit and passion behind her words.
“Today, we woke up to a changed world,” she said, while going on to condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions. “Today, he cements his place in the ranks of the reviled European dictators who caused such carnage in the 20th century.”
After I had first heard the news of Russia’s multi-pronged military strike against its sovereign, democratic neighbour that morning, the world did indeed feel different to me. And while the invasion (despite what Putin spins it as, it is an invasion) certainly didn’t surprise me, it still came as a shock that a global powerhouse and permanent member of the United Nations Security Council decided to cross that line – figuratively and literally – between simply just posturing its military and sending in those forces for a full-scale assault. Russia had gradually built up its armies along Ukraine’s borders for months leading up to the Feb. 24 invasion, with numbers reportedly swelling to approximately 150,000 troops and beyond. It was only inevitable that Putin would use them, and now he has.
Putin’s vague inferences to rooting out those responsible for some sort of “genocide” taking place within Ukraine has been cited as part of the rationale to why he was doing this, adding that this supposed genocide has been refuted by outside observers, including the United Nations. He was also quick to add, “Our plans do not include occupying Ukrainian territory.” Who knows what his plans actually are, but given Mr. Putin’s political history, everything he says must be taken with a grain of salt. A very small grain. You must do so when it comes to bullies and liars, and he is both.
Putin has been a prominent world leader for a long time – much longer than the Constitution of the Russian Federation ever intended before he obtained the presidency. Under its (former) laws, no president was permitted to serve more than two four-year terms, much like the United States’ model. However, following the expiration of his second term in 2008 and then a second crack at prime minister duties, he re-obtained the presidency for a third term when the leadership was conveniently vacated by his crony, Dmitry Medvedev. Putin then basically re-wrote the Russian Constitution, permitting the president to seek additional future terms, which he also extended to six years.
Putin is now currently serving his unprecedented fourth term as president, following the latest round of “democratic” elections conducted in 2018. Plenty of protesting took place after his re-election, as it did in 2012, and God knows what happened to those people responsible for organizing them. A former KGB agent during the days of the Soviet Union, you can be assured Putin knows exactly who his enemies are and how to silence them. You don’t maintain power for this long without eliminating your competition. His title of ‘president’ appears in actuality to just be code for ‘dictator for life.’
This isn’t the first time that Russia has conducted an unsanctioned military operation in Ukraine. Just eight years ago in 2014, Russian troops without identifying marks on their uniforms (like they were fooling anybody) advanced into the southern Ukrainian territory of Crimea, taking control of key strategic points and later annexing it through a ‘referendum’ that saw Crimeans vote in favour of joining the Russian Federation. Nothing sounds fishy there, given Russia’s recent and ongoing history with alleged election scandal. Cough! U.S. 2016! Cough! Excuse me.
Conveniently, Russia’s latest incursion last week involved strategic strikes to southern Ukraine from Crimea. That annexation was no doubt carefully planned with future ambitions to take control of the rest of the country, using Crimea as a jump-off point while also utilizing its valuable naval ports to control the Black Sea.
The western response has been largely as anticipated to this point and prior to the actual invasion – in the form of economic sanctions. Kremlin representatives have shrugged them off, and it’s true that Russia wouldn’t likely feel any sort of pinch in terms of finances and imported resources for a long time. The country is vast and has a lot of what it needs within its own borders, including industry to keep its military supported with plenty of tanks, ships and planes, and the oil to power them. No one wants all-out war but it’s going to take a lot more than harsh words and a slap on the nose to stop Russia, and a leader apparently intent on expanding his influence further into Eastern Europe.
All of this sounds familiar, doesn’t it? 1939 seems like a long time ago, but in the grand scheme of things not long enough to not learn that giving a bully a little bit more, and then a little bit more at a time will only appease them for so long. Then one day you wake up and realize you should have acted much, much earlier. And all the while, innocent people are dying in the name of another’s greed, ambition and ego.
The United Nations and its permanent council representative countries – China, the United Kingdom, France and the United States – have some extremely tough decisions to make now. Any joint action the UN could potentially take can be automatically vetoed by the council’s final member, which happens to be Russia. It effectively makes the organization a paper tiger in this matter, unless a certain someone was to be expelled from it.
Canada to date has followed the lead of its allies in terms of its promises for crippling financial sanctions; what’s to come later remains to be seen. If anything, these recent developments in Ukraine put into perspective how somewhat petty all of our domestic in-fighting and debate has been when it comes to basic rights pertaining to the pandemic and the measures that have been implemented over the last two years to help combat it.
We should be grateful to still live in a country where we have the option to hold such debates. Russia has certainly proven over the past 100-plus years (and well beyond back into the reigns of the czars) and the last two decades in particular that freedom of speech and the right to protest are only acceptable if the powers at be that hold the reins deem it permissible. In short, they do not.
As I write this a week ago, likely a lot has changed on the scope of this crisis. On the first day of the invasion, Russian military strikes have been mostly directed at Ukrainian military targets – army bases and airfields. That is what was being reported, anyway. But given those targets lie within heavily-populated cities, the death toll will not remain localized to military casualties. Throughout every modern military engagement in human history, if urban areas are involved, the highest casualties are always amongst the civilian population. No doubt that will be the case this time as well. The Ukrainian civilians know this too; by now you’ve surely seen photos and videos of massive streams of people attempting to flee places like Kharkiv, Odessa, and the capital of Kyiv.
The Ontario government stated that it will assist anyone fleeing Ukraine through settlement services; our province is already home to 375,000 people of Ukrainian origin. I hope everyone gets out safely, and are given refuge wherever they seek it. It goes without saying that no other right should take precedence over the basic right to live in freedom and peace.
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This is a bi-weekly opinion column; for question or comment contact Dan McNee at dmcnee@midwesternnewspapers.com.
