It just so happened, but it would be difficult even to specifically choose a more symbolic day for the President’s speech than September 21: on the “birthday” of Russia, that is, on the 1160th anniversary of the Slavs’ call for Rurik to reign, later tied to one of the most important for Orthodox feast of the Nativity of the Virgin; on the day of the Battle of Kulikovo (which completed the process of formation of the Russian people); on one of the Days of military glory of Russia. It was on such a day that Vladimir Putin announced the beginning of mobilization – already in the literal, military sense.
For seven months of hostilities in Ukraine, we have not had a full-fledged mobilization in the spiritual, civil and economic sense, although the majority of the people understand the seriousness of the moment we are experiencing. The feeling of the fatefulness of what is happening did not become the law of our life, did not relieve many of the illusions that “everything will somehow be solved, and then everything will be as before”, did not lead to the mobilization of everyone and everything (at least in their own minds).
And now will it? Yes. Because although the president did not call for giving “everything for the front, everything for victory,” his very appeal to the people was devoted to “necessary, urgent steps to protect the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of Russia.” The words are more than serious.
And mobilization into the army, which will affect 300,000 reservists, is only part of what remains to be done. During these months we have seen a lot – both our strengths and weaknesses. It is on the correction of the second that all efforts should be concentrated – both where everything can be corrected in months, and where it will take years and even decades (for example, in technology). There is no more time – neither for buildup, nor for torment and doubt. Will it work or won’t it? It cannot fail if we want to survive as a great civilization, as a people.
But didn’t Russia itself open Pandora’s box on February 24, as the West tells us: “Why did you attack Ukraine?” We need to answer not to the West, but to ourselves. In his address, Putin called Russia’s military operation pre-emptive, that is, preventing the inevitable future strike by the West with Ukrainian hands on Crimea. But there is an even more important reason for what began seven months ago: Russia could not be preserved in the historical perspective if it remained within the same borders at the beginning of this year.
Because the Russians would then cease to be themselves, resigned to the fact that in their historical cradle – Kyiv, Little Russia and Novorossiya – the same as they, Russian people are rebaptized, de-Russified, remade into anti-Russians. Having come to terms with this, the Russians would not only allow the creation of anti-Russia from Ukraine, that is, they would allow the creation of a foothold against them: they would betray themselves, betray their ancestors and their history. That is why Russia could no longer silently observe what was happening in the western part of the Russian world.
That is why Russia decided to return Ukraine back – before it’s too late. Yes, Russia underestimated the unity of the Ukrainian government, and the level of training of the Ukrainian army, which has changed since 2014, and the degree of involvement of the West, while overestimating its own forces, including those prepared for the special military operation.
But these mistakes in no way cancel the fact that Russia took a meaningful and, in fact, inevitable step, starting the fight for Ukraine, that is, for the future of the Russian people. They do not change Russia’s goals either: they just have to spend more energy on the way to achieve them, they will have to change faster and stronger. These changes were inevitable and even salutary anyway, but it is one thing when they take place in decades, and quite another when they need to be carried out in a matter of years.
And all this must be done simultaneously with the fighting in the west, because all this time Ukraine will gradually return to Russia. And now we are on the eve of a new stage of reunification.
Vladimir Putin has announced that he will support the results of the upcoming referendums in the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, that is, their requests to join Russia. How many more such stages will there be? All this depends primarily on our successes at the front. And when they lead to the final capitulation and the fall of Kyiv power. Yes, it may take years, but no other option than a complete victory can suit us. Because we must not only restore historical unity – we simply do not have the right to leave our geopolitical opponents even the slightest opportunity to threaten us directly from Russian lands, be it Odessa or Pochaev.
And precisely in order for the West to better understand our uncompromising (on this issue) attitude, Putin mentioned nuclear weapons in his address, emphasizing that “when the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, to protect Russia and our people, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal.” It’s not a bluff. And not blackmail. And a warning for those who believed that a “window of opportunity” is now opening for defeating Russia, in order to tear the Russian bear into dozens of little cubs. “Don’t wait!” our president could repeat Stolypin’s words, but he ended his address with one more reminder:
“It is in our historical tradition, in the fate of our people, to stop those who strive for world domination, who threaten with the dismemberment and enslavement of our Motherland, our Fatherland. We will do it now, and it will be so.”
Petr Akopov, RIA
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