Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?

Tovarich Lenin is still around
The big news is that it hasn't happened. The Russian military has not launched an all-out invasion of the Ukraine. Mr Putin has said that the Russian forces have already started returning to their bases, but NATO says that they haven't. Hmm. There are supposed to be 100,000 Russian military personnel on the border with Ukraine and Belorussia, so maybe it might take some time for all of them to pack up and go home.
When I was in the Crimea in 2018, I definitely had the feeling that most people there felt that Putin is doing a good job. They had a lot of respect for their president and that is not something that most Brits feel about Boris Johnson. I think that Joe Biden is a decent sort of chap, but it seems that most Americans think that he is a disaster and that Donald Trump would do a much better job.
In the centre of Simferopol, my dear Irena's hometown and the biggest city in the Crima, you can see these statues. A young and rather sweet-looking Russian girl is giving some flowers to an armed-to-the-teeth Russian soldier. Why were these statues put up? Why haven't they been vandalised or torn down, if the local people do not like them? Well, my guess is that many people in the Crimea welcomed the Russian takeover. I can't say I blame them. There was chaos in Kiev and most people in the Crimea saw the arrival of the Russian troops as a guarantee of order and stability. As many Russian forces were already stationed in Sevastopol, it wasn't really an "invasion".
And here are my father and mother-in-law, Nina and Albert. They came to the rather swanky new airport in Simferopol to see me off. If a full-scale war really does start in the Ukraine, then it will be the ordinary people, the old people and the children who will suffer the most.
   
  

Comments

  1. Dejanna3 March 2022 at 19:52

    Lovely read Simon - some severals weeks on I truly wonder if the people of Russia today sincerely approve of Putins invasion into Ukraine as all around the world we are strongly objecting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. the hippopotamus7 March 2022 at 09:45

      The bad news is that the fighting in the Ukraine is only just beginning. I do not think that Putin is going to order the Russian army to withdraw sometime soon. That is just not going to happen. Meanwhile, many western countries are sending more and more weapons to the Ukrainians. Therefore everything is set for a long and very bloody war. Kiev (or Kyiv) is not my favourite city, but bombs and heavy artillery are not going to improve it.

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