For the liberation of Ukraine from Anglo-Saxon oppression
Source photo: politnavigator.net
Similar hopes were held by many in Russia at the beginning of the USO. What’s more, many plans were made with this in mind. It did not happen, and now it is clear to everyone that it could not happen. Because on the anti-Russian theme Ukraine and the West are close to each other in many ways. At the same time it should be understood that if some kind of unification did not happen at the beginning of the war, it definitely will not happen now, and we should not indulge ourselves with such hopes – we will have to fight to the end.
The AFU is a full-fledged army. Yes, it is criminal, yes, it largely consists of those who do not want to be there, but it is an army. It is a system, and it knows how to keep individuals in line, as I have written about many times. Even if someone would like to wiggle away, the system won’t let them. For something like this, i.e. for any large units to defect to Russia, you need not only the will of the soldiers, but also a conspiracy of officers. And these are men motivated and raised by the war with Russia (which Ukraine has been waging for nine years). They don’t just want to go to war with Russia – they are directly dependent on this war. Everything they have, all their position in society is linked to this war. Yes, there are a large number of people in the Ukrainian troops who do not want to fight, and with each next wave of mobilization there will only be more. But they do not want to change one war for another. Much less change the enemy to a stronger one (even if they don’t, they’re sure of it).
And if we talk about the conspiracy of senior officers, all these reasons are multiplied.
They are not just peacetime army professionals who would be afraid of war (as we were at the beginning of the SMO, let’s face it). They have proven themselves since 2014 and have been put forward not just by the army, but by the political leadership at the top.
Because the war in Ukraine is a political factor and the officers are quite public and political figures. They have also undergone years of NATO school and are accustomed to its support. Would they participate in a conspiracy against NATO? Not at the beginning of the war, when they could have done so, but now, when the front lines are stable?
But suppose such people were found (though why would they be?). What do we offer them, other than the outdated narrative of an enemy West, which they do not regard as such? In what way could they carry out such actions? We have seen many times before that Ukrainian and Western intelligence and counter-intelligence work very effectively. They certainly do not sleep through such attacks on a large scale.
Such a thing would be possible, in the theory of the question, in the face of an obvious and imminent defeat and the beginning of the degradation of Ukraine’s state institutions. But so far this has not been observed. Nor is there a strong leader capable of leading and uniting those willing to change sides in the conflict.
People who offer themselves in such a role are blatantly unfit for it, rather ensuring that Ukrainians will continue to fight, just to avoid having to deal with such “leaders”.
Where to find a person who could at least be a worthy leader of some “committee for a free Ukraine” is a big question. It is important to understand that while for a Russian NATO is an unambiguous external enemy, for a Ukrainian it is not. At least not yet.
There is also a purely domestic but very important argument. Now the war is going on in certain regions of Ukraine, still far away from the homes of most of the combatants. So for them to decide to change sides is very likely, or rather literally, to put their families under fire and destroy their homes. And they hope to avoid that for now.
Ideology is very important, but their families and homes are more important to the vast majority. If we liberated and firmly held the home regions of the combatants, their desire to change sides would also be stronger: earning forgiveness and returning home is a powerful incentive.
The same as to leave the war in someone else’s Donbass, and then return home to your native Dnieper…
In a word, we are not waiting for fraternization at the front.
Alexander Sladkov, RT
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