Prime Minister Anthony Albanese very recently hugged Ukrainian President Zelensky, and praised him as an “exceptional leader.” That’s par for the course for a Western leader – they all fawn over Zelensky.
Zelensky was born in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Russia. So he was Vladimir Zelensky, until recently – now he’s Volodymr Zelensky. Before he took over the leadership of Ukraine, the Russian “Vladimir” was fine. Ukrainian was the official language of Ukraine, but Russian was widely used, too, and 65% of the population are ethnically Russian. But now, Russian is not fine – banned in schools and public places. The June 2022 – LAW OF UKRAINE – “On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language” – greatly restricts the use of the Russian language in music and in all media. That’s just one part of the de-Russification of culture in Ukraine. I felt sad that the government has trashed, very literally, the memories of Catherine the Great, who did promote not only art and culture to Kiev, but also improvements in health and education, and rights for Muslims and Jews. (Western pro-Ukraine writers are now busily rewriting history on Catherine the Great).
But then, I am inclined to put much importance on that rather nebulous thing – “culture.”
What else has Zelensky achieved inside Ukraine?
Politics. Also in 2022, Zelensky banned 11 political parties, despite no evidence linking any to the Russian government. His term as President was due to be over by May 2024, but the state of martial law enables him to continue to rule. He has shown support for the ultra-nationalist section in Ukraine, those who hark back to the days of collaborating with Nazi Germany in opposition to Russia during World War 2. This did not go down well with Poland, where Ukrainian Nazis had committed massacres. In June 2026, Polish President Karol Nawrocki, revoked the Order of the White Eagle – Poland’s highest honor – previously awarded to Zelensky. In 2024, Zelensky banned Ukraine’s largest Christian church – the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Military conscription for the war uses brutal methods to recruit men aged 25-60. Ukraine is a dictatorship. And I haven’t even touched on the level of corruption.
Zelensky’s progress in the war. It seems to be forgotten that civil war was going on in Ukraine for 8 years before Zelensky’s election in 2019, with the government fighting the “separatists” in the Donbass. The Donbass were granted autonomy within Ukraine, by the Minsk Agreements of 2014 and 2015, but Kiev refused to honour that agreement. Zelensky was elected in a landslide, with his main promise being to grant that autonomy, honour Minsk, and end the war.
March-April 2022: Zelensky and Putin agreed on a framework agreement that would allow the Donbass autonomy, and end the war, with Ukraine pledging not to join NATO. The U.S. and U.K. objected. Prime Minister Boris Johnson flies to Kiev to tell Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to stop negotiating with Russia. Zelensky complies. The war continues with Russia seizing much of the Donbass.
From then on, it is a saga, with Zelensky applying his truly exceptional media skills in an endless peripatetic round of Western capitals seeking apparently endless amounts of money and weaponry, as he pushes themes of evil Russia’s intent to invade Europe, and destroy Western democracy. Always dressed in some distinctive gear, Zelensky presented first the persona of the very ordinary down-to-earth tough little soldier, later the persona of the strong leading statesman, all in black, suggesting implacable military leadership yet not actually in a uniform. Within Ukraine, (the Jewish) Zelensky celebrated Orthodox Christian Easter, suitably arrayed.
I see that I have returned to the theme of culture and style. But how else to account for the extraordinary adoration given to Zelensky by the West? With a couple of notable exceptions, (Poland and Slovakia), the Western world is not only full of enthusiasm for Zelensky, but willing to fund advanced weaponry to Ukraine, oblivious of the danger of nuclear-armed Russia responding to attacks deep inside its territory. Even Russia-hating Joe Biden drew the line at this. Zelensky, originally open to negotiations with Russia, considering compromises and concessions on both sides, now is intent on the goal of unconditional surrender by Russia. The European Union is backing this aim, apparently unable to consider a more realistic approach to ending this war – a war which is bankrupting Ukraine, killing a huge number of soldiers, while at least 6 million have fled the country, with 10 million displaced within Ukraine.
Western media determinedly reports atrocities by Russians, but never atrocities by Ukrainians. Western media reports Russian attacks near Ukraine’s nuclear sites, particularly Zaporizhzhia, although the evidence there is uncertain. But there’s silence on Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s huge nuclear station at Kursk. Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure and civilian areas are reported as atrocities, but Ukraine’s attacks on Russia’s infrastructure and civilian sites are “successes.”
The idea of considering genuine negotiations with Russia is really not being considered, let alone of examining the situation of the largely ethnic Russian citizens of the Donbass. I did hear one podcast report, a Donetsk farmer saying that he just wanted the war to end, and didn’t care whether Ukraine or Russia was in control of Donetsk. I know that I can’t extrapolate from this one statement to the general opinion of the Donbass. But I think that it’s quite likely, after 11 years of war there, that might be the opinion of many others.
It’s going to be interesting, when European States come up for election soon, whether or not the public will tire of this unequivocal support of Zelensky and his aim to conquer Russia. It might be that some very right-wing, neo-nazi factions will take over, and bring us even closer to the brink of nuclear war. Or it could go the other way, and voices of reason, such as former diplomat Charles Freeman, might prevail. Meanwhile, Zelensky’s own position within Ukraine is fraught: he would face elections if the war ended, and perhaps his political survival, even his physical survival, depends on the unequivocal quest to defeat Russia.
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Albanese in his arrogance thinking he has the handle on exceptional leadership is a great joke to end the week on. If it were funny. Exceptional leaders don’t refuse to have an inquiry or RC into domestic violence and femicide then 2 weeks later turn around and tell other countries like India they need to have one. I like everyone else am sick of his mealy-mouthed duplicity and secretive, creepy authoritarian campaign. Not to mention the wanton cruelty towards those who are defenseless. Anyone who is still a Labor diehard just after NDIS cuts has zero objectivity.
I notice Albo was on about IA there.
Was it a diversion?
Perhaps, but the Americans and some of their leaders, seem scared that the Chinese have stolen a march, developing AI quicker than US orgs? Either way, who has the ultimate handle on such technology and if it is developed intensively, who would we trust on that either…Chinese oligarchs or a ragged bunch of hustlers from the USA?
Back to the issue. I would not trust any of them..ruthless buggas, as to Russia and Ukraine.
The Europeans are only interested in themselves and flow of gas from Russia. Would you trust the likes of Von der Leyen either?
Anyone making these types of claims, too apparent in local faux anti-imperialist tankie indie media, seem to support Putin, Trump and Netanyahu objectives vs Ukraine and the EU?
October 7, Putin was suspiciously quick out of the blocks to call and offer condolences to Netanyahu; Zelensky’s call was not accepted by Netanyahu?
Now Francesca Albanese UN Rapporteur on Gaza has been called out in Europe making anti-Ukraine statements in support of the Kremlin and White House?
Finland based Vatnik Soup is preparing a profile of Francesca Albanese as we speak; lists several Australians with high profile types like Mearsheimer*, Sachs, Galloway, Bannon, Fugin et al
The European left is under no delusions about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while too many Australians follow the line of fossil fuel Anglo faux anti-imperialist tankies of the right, masquerading as left…..
*John ‘always wrong’ Mearsheimer followed and sometimes published in indie media, supported by Charles Koch Foundation and Putin’s Valdai Club; last weekend in conversation with Tom Switzer at Atlas Koch CIS Sydney……
You made me doubt your credibility early in this piece when you claimed that 65% of Ukrainians were ethnic Russians. According to the last official Ukrainian national census (2001), 17.3% of Ukraine’s population identified as ethnically Russian.
Key context regarding this demographic figure:
* 2001 Census Data: The 2001 census is the only official census Ukraine has conducted since gaining independence. At that time, ethnic Russians made up approximately 8.33 million out of Ukraine’s total population of ~48 million.
* Distinction Between Ethnicity and Language: Self-identified ethnic background differs from primary language preference. In the 2001 census, around 29.6% of the population listed Russian as their native language, as many ethnic Ukrainians (particularly in urban, eastern, and southern regions) historically grew up speaking Russian as a primary language.
* Geographic Distribution: Ethnic Russians were predominantly concentrated in Crimea (where they formed a majority) and in the eastern and southern regions (such as the Donbas region).
* Post-2014 & Recent Shifts: Due to the annexation of Crimea in 2014, ongoing conflict, massive wartime displacement, refugee movements, and widespread shifts in national self-identification, the current proportion of ethnic Russians residing within government-controlled Ukrainian territory is estimated to be significantly lower today.
I like Zelenskyy. I won’t be convinced otherwise.
Andrew Smith says “The European left is under no delusions about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
Actually, the European left is completely deluded about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as is the European centre.
As is Andrew Smith.
As is his previously discredited “authority”, Vatnik Soup, who, it turns out, is a mere “hobbyist”.
The only Europeans who know what’s going on are the conservative right.
And because the right is at odds with the centre and the left, they are routinely referred to as extremists.
Smith intentionally misrepresents the conflict in Ukraine.
At https://theaimn.net/starmer-begone-another-dud-leaves-number-10/
he asked “What was Russia’s reason to invade Crimea, then Ukraine proper… Why don’t Australians have empathy for victims?”
Yet he well knows that when the people of the Donbass protested at their language being suppressed, the coup government in Kiev began a military campaign against them on the grounds that legitimate protest was terrorism.
Kiev’s decision to continue murdering its own citizens on that pretext has come back to bite them.
Kiev took Russia to the ICJ over the intervention on the grounds of Russian terrorism in Donbass, but the court found that to not be the case, and that the Donbass resistance itself could not be seen as terrorism simply because Kiev referred to it as such.
The ICJ has now effectively confirmed that the entire mainstream narrative of what happened in Crimea and Donbass over the previous decade was fraudulent.
So Andrew Smith’s empathy for victims is highly selective.
He has no empathy for people being shelled by their own government while exercising their legitimate right to protest.
Thank you, Peter Naughton. Now I don’t know where I got that claim from – that 65% of Ukrainians were ethnic Russians. Yes, it doesn’t sound convincing. Wikipedia says “Russians constitute the country’s largest ethnic minority in Ukraine. This community forms the largest single Russian community outside of Russia in the world.” Ethnicity is a murky thing anyway, – based on genetics there is really no difference between Ukrainians, Belarusians and Russians. Based on what ethnicity people claim, clearly I was wrong, and I regret using that 65% figure.
For those who like Zelensky and for whom nothing will change their minds, this from MSN this morning — Brussels is stepping up expectations on Kyiv to accelerate reforms indispensable for unlocking €20 billion in financial assistance, which the country badly needs as the budget deficit swells and Russia escalates the war.
EU officials have raised the alarm about the slow legislative pace in the Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, where several laws are stalled. Two separate payments, one of €3.9 billion and another of €2.9 billion, have been delayed as a result.
As my colleague Jorge Liboreiro reports, the situation stands in stark contrast with the public messages from Zelenskyy and his deputies, who are asking allies to mobilise additional resources to plug a €23 billion gap in the Ministry of Defence. Separately, the country faces a €32.6 billion hole in next year’s budget.
Could this reform delay have something to do with Ukraine’s long-standing reputation as the most corrupt country in Europe?
State corruption in Ukraine was reported by journalist Seymour Hersh a few years ago.
He wrote that the CIA assesses that Ukrainian officials, including Zelenskyy, have embezzled $400 million from money the U.S. sent Ukraine to buy diesel fuel for its war effort, and that Ukrainian government ministries literally compete with each other to sell weapons paid for by U.S. taxpayers to private arms dealers in Poland, the Czech Republic and around the world.
A press release from the European Court of Auditors, Luxembourg, 23 September 2021, adds some weight to the claims by Hersh.
The report heading reads — EU support for reforms in Ukraine ineffective in fighting grand corruption.
It continues;
“Grand corruption and state capture are still widespread in Ukraine despite EU action, according to a special report published by the European Court of Auditors (ECA). The EU has been trying to address corruption in Ukraine as a cross-cutting priority; it has channelled funds and efforts through a variety of sectors, from the competition environment to the judiciary and civil society. But the support and measures put in place have not delivered the expected results, the auditors say…Grand corruption and state capture are endemic in Ukraine; as well as hindering competition and growth, they also harm the democratic process.”
EU support for reforms in Ukraine ineffective in fighting grand corruption??
That report came out 5 years ago!
What can we say?!
The EU has been oh, so relentless in pulling Ukraine into line.
About as relentless as they were in stopping Ukraine from murdering its citizens in the Donbass, even though the OSCE ( Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) was a signatory to the Minsk 1 Protocol.
The entire mainstream narrative of what happened in Ukraine, Crimea and Donbass since 2014 was fraudulent.
The countries of Europe wanted the war with Russia, and they want it to continue.
Steve, you might have got me mixed up.
I only said I like him. I didn’t say he was an angel.
Roswell, fair enough.
But can I tell myself that I’m making progress? 🙂
Roswell – please tell us what it is that you like about Zelensky.
Noel, we’ve been fed with Western media but I’m starting to acknowledge there’s information out there that paints a different picture of the man. I’ve a lot of reading and catching up to do.
And btw, I like people standing up to Putin.
Thank you, Roswell. I too, like people standing up to Putin. And indeed, to any dictator. Our problem is, that if we see one country’s actions as wrong, we are somehow automatically inclined to see the other country as “good”. I think that Zelensky is very brave, and talented. But that’s not enough.
In regard to my claim above that the European Left is completely deluded about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the delusion includes the UK Left — Britain’s ruling elite stokes war fever against Russia, demanding conscription and the jailing of opponents.
Speaking to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Labour Prime Minister Andy Burnham committed Britain to an open-ended escalation of the war against Russia, while unveiling an Orwellian National Centre for Information Defence to suppress political dissent at home.
His speech followed weeks in which senior politicians, retired generals, serving defence force chiefs, and the mass media have campaigned for a war on welfare to pay for rearmament and the reintroduction of military conscription.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/09/24/nelb-s24.html
A war on welfare to finance a delusion?
What’s going on?
Then there’s this — The voices denying a Russian threat may need to be locked up. That is what Paul Richards, treasurer of the Fabian Society and a former special adviser to Labour, said on Jacob Rees-Mogg’s panel on GB News. The same evening, the host himself demanded that Britons bring back duty and the stiff upper lip.
The segment aired on September 21, 2026, on Rees-Mogg’s program State of the Nation. Richards, in a red tie, spoke about what he says would be required if Britain were faced with war with Russia. Not spies or saboteurs, but people who make a different assessment of the threat.
”We would need to lock some people up. Some of the “pro-Russian” voices. Those who say the threat does not exist. We would need to take those measures., says Paul Richards.*
In the same line of argument, he spoke of those who do not want to go to war, and of conscription also being needed. Andy Burnham has been Britain’s prime minister since July 20 of this year. The line Richards draws is therefore not at a crime, but at an opinion about the threat and at an unwillingness to serve.
Richards is no casual guest in the debate. The Fabian Society, Labour’s affiliated think tank (that was involved in forming the Labour Party) itself states that he is the society’s treasurer, former national chairman, special adviser and author of several of the society’s pamphlets. It is that voice, in Rees-Mogg’s studio, that counts off who would need to be locked up.
https://nordictimes.com/world/former-minister-studio-lock-up-britons-who-say-no-to-war/
As we see from those quotes, the problem is not confined to the Left.
Across Europe, an element of insanity and repression has permeated any and all discussion of the Ukraine conflict.
Prominent critics of Europe’s role in the war have had bank accounts frozen with no trial, without even being charged with an offence. Because no offence exists with which they can be charged.
That will be soon rectified, charges will be concocted, because there appears to be no chance that Europe will change course.
The nations of Europe have become caricatures of the very authoritarianism they claim to be fighting.
This suggests that something is going on behind the scenes, of which the public is completely unaware.
Something about which we can only speculate.
Is Europe, after embracing the stupidity of liberal economic theory for fifty years, on the brink of economic collapse and hoping that a major war can wipe the slate clean?
I’ve been making the point for a few days now, that strong societies produce strong economies.
The fundamental fiction of liberal economics has it that strong economies produce strong societies.
This turns reality on its head.
The liberal mechanism for achieving a strong society is to make the rich richer and the rest struggle.
We do not hear that stated today, but it was openly promoted by the “intellectuals” behind the Thatcher revolution.
That process results in a weakened society, as we see across the liberal democracies today.
Have the nations of Europe, by following liberal economic doctrine, weakened their economies, weakened their societies, and now see war as their only escape from a predicament they created?
Is military Keynesianism the inevitable end-game of liberal economic theory?
The evidence points to that conclusion.
Because it’s not just Europe heading that way.
Australia has chosen that path as well.
Makes sense to me Steve.The country is fucked, economically and socially by neoliberalism, so the obvious answer is start a war with Russia, conscript all those layabouts, and gaol the refuseniks.The world is going to shit in a handbasket, and boy, the evidence is overwhelming.
Meanwhile, back home,we are run by the factional mafia of The Labor party, who have made lies and hypocrisy seem respectable.
Not about whether anybody likes or dislikes Zelensky the elected leader of Ukraine, but defending his nation and Europe against Putin’s Russian and now US imperialist aggression.
The US regime like Russia’s is fossil fueled (Koch Heritage was in Abbott’s Orbán ecosystem), corrupt, patriarchal, Christianist, authoritarian, anti-democratic and versus Zelensky like the article.
Allies vs Zelensky & the EU include Putin, Koch Network, Trump, Netanyahu, JD Vance, Rubio, Hegseth, Fox News, Tucker Carlson, GB News, Dugin, Bannon, Thiel, Farage/Reform, Tommy Robinson, Le Pen, AfD et al.; see any pattern here?
One can be on the right side of history or blindly follow a bunch of right wing grifters masquerading as anti-imperialist centre and left, or not at all?
An excellent database in Finland by disinfo researchers led by Pekka K., inspired by following far right Finns fighting for Russia, then conga lines of Anglo grifters.
Vatnik Soup is a series of social media threads, podcasts, articles and books about pro-Russian propagandists (“vatniks”) from around the world, be they so-called “independent journalists”, politicians (from all sides of the spectrum) or military personnel, whether they’re naive fools or cynical grifters.
https://vatniksoup.com/
@ Andrew Smith: ”Zelensky ….. defending his nation against Putin’s Russia and now US imperialism”.
Just what was the role of the USA back in 2014 when much of this matter was engineered?? From incomplete information, it appears that US State Department et al were involved in double dealing.
Why are we not surprised, just another interference in the domestic politics of a foreign nation for the benefit of US multinational corporations to add to the 80+ interventions since 1945??
Harry and Cocky — seeing through the fog, thank you.
Further to the drift into authoritarianism by the liberal democracies, former British ambassador, now historian and journalist Craig Murray, has recently returned from a 4 day trip to Russia.
He writes on suppression of the press — The BBC, the Guardian, Reuters, CNN are all present and travel and report across Russia, and regularly bring you the (Western) propaganda picture. You can read it any time.
But consider this.
Russia Today and Sputnik Radio were closed down in the UK, totally. *There are no Russian journalists free to operate in the UK unless they write the British government line, while British journalists, including the totally hostile, still operate in Russia.
I could read the super-Russophobic Guardian in Russia anytime, with no VPN. Those facts in themselves are sufficient to destroy the simplistic narrative of “free West vs authoritarian Russia”, and should at least make you realise that there is more to see and hear than the Western narrative.
As Western elites struggle to hold the consent of their populations during a period of declining standards of living for ordinary people and a massively expanding wealth gap to the billionaire class, they need an enemy to focus hatred and resentment away from themselves.
They use immigrants at home and Russians abroad.
I just spent a few days with those Russians, and could not have met more warm, human, decent and well-motivated people. I met with kindness and consideration even when I didn’t fit entirely into their agenda. I encountered no xenophobia, no hate and no extremism, and absolutely no desire for war.
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2026/09/four-days-in-ekaterinburg/
We must keep asking — Why is Europe determined to rush headlong into war with Russia?
I don’t think it was all Putin’s fault either. I wonder at the provocation from Europe and the US of moving nukes close to the Russian border did not inflame the situation just before the war began.
Good intuition from Paul Walter.
Putin’s address to the 2007 Munich Security Conference shows the extent to which Putin has been misrepresented in the Western media.
Here’s his opening words.
It is well known that international security comprises much more than issues relating to military and political stability. It involves the stability of the global economy, overcoming poverty, economic security and developing a dialogue between civilisations.
This universal, indivisible character of security is expressed as the basic principle that “security for one is security for all”. As Franklin D. Roosevelt said during the first few days that the Second World War was breaking out: “When peace has been broken anywhere, the peace of all countries everywhere is in danger.”
These words remain topical today. Incidentally, the theme of our conference — global crises, global responsibility — exemplifies this.
And later, after explaining how Europe had undermined the Adapted Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe while Russia complied, — I would like to quote the speech of NATO General Secretary Mr Woerner in Brussels on 17 May 1990. He said at the time that: “the fact that we are ready not to place a NATO army outside of German territory gives the Soviet Union a firm security guarantee”.
Where are these guarantees?
Despite continual provocation from Europe/NATO, Russia was still trying to establish a framework for total European security until a few weeks prior to the Ukraine intervention.
These efforts were treated with contempt.
Putin’s address is worth reading in full.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/12/AR2007021200555.html
Steve: No, if you want to promote Kremlin & MAGA talking to points astroturf and mislead others fine, but do not defame and slander others? Because it looks like you have no facts, analysis or expertise, just abuse?
NEC could please elaborate on your comment, not sure what you are implying or why muddying the water for a fading 19-20thC imperialist power Russia, like the US?
2014 Russia invaded Crimea, and the reaction of FoxNews was elation because it would make ‘Obama look weak’; same Hamas & Israel genocide kicked off Oct 7 made Biden, Harris and Dems look weak…
We observe clear support for Russia vs Ukraine by Trump’s cabinet, MAGA and FoxNews; like too many in the Anglosphere ‘left’, can you explain this dynamic or astroturf vs Ukraine &’Europe’?
Andrew Smith, why so picky?
We all know Putin is no angel, but neither are the other politicnas involved. I still think all of the tragedy of the last five years has been about Russia’s oil and gas and Western Europe’s fear that the price is too high, but from Putin’s pov, the getting diddled on gas prices must be a factor also.
I still think Steve’s comment was fair enough. I don’t think Steve is some crafty fox with a valve radio set hidden in the closet, for orders from Moscow..it is two generations out of date.
@ Andrew Smith: Not sure what you are seeking. John Bolton announced that the USA had interfered in the domestic politics of 80+ foreign nations, including the Australian Whitlam Dismissal in 1975.
Certainly the USA is dissolving internally with the assistance of TACO Trumpery & the MAGA mob of self-serving billionaires. The parallels with Ancient Rome and England post WWII are obvious, and now the UK looks like being de-amalgamated thanks to the last Tories maladministration and misgovernment.
Hey Roswell, Roswell, I CAN claim progress!!
3 or 4 years ago, if I supported an article such as this I’d be met with half a dozen calls for my torture and summary execution.
Well, they left out the torture part, but they were definitely think’n it!
Andrew Smith now has the field to himself, but he’s still an excellent confirmation of Harold Pinter’s remark in his Nobel Prize speech where he stated that US propaganda is no more than a hugely successful exercise in hypnosis.
Andrew comes here to repeat misinformation that was refuted weeks, months, years ago.
Each time his rot is refuted he makes no attempt to defend it, he just puts it aside to pull out again when convenient.
As we see here.
On 1st August he referred to “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine/Crimea in 2014.”
That was refuted.
Yet here we see it again.
“2014 Russia invaded Crimea.”
The history of Crimea is complex and convoluted, but the following, that I posted on 1st August, is sufficient for a balanced account.
Russia did not invade Ukraine or Crimea in 2014.
At the time of the Kiev coup in 2014 that the US instigated, Russia had 20,000 troops in Crimea as part of an agreement with Ukraine that is still in force until the 2040s.
So there was no invasion of Crimea.
Andrew Smith, instead of defending his false assertions, accuses me here of misleading others.
It’s time that he put up or shut up.
Exactly where have I misled others?
Hi, Steve. That’s both the custom and the curse of this site: everyone has the right to express their opinions.
If they are wrong, debate is encouraged.
Four years ago the site had more moderators and we were able to review every comment. Now it’s only me and Michael, and as Michael has been busy working on some technical issues that leaves only me.
I know for a fact that Michael and Carol are grateful for all commenters, namely for their mature and respectful debate.
Roswell, I wasn’t complaining, I actually enjoy the argie-bargie! 🙂
Speaking of which, I haven’t seen A Commentator for a while. I miss him.
Sorry Roswell, can’t help you there, I don’t recall the name! 🙂
A Commentator: What a genius…please send her back?
Speaking of Zelensky…
On the eve of the Russian intervention in Ukraine, one of the justifications given was the need to rid Ukraine of Nazi influence.
The Western media had a field day with the claim, and ridiculed Russia relentlessly.
Even though the Nazi problem in Ukraine had been known about for years.
On 22 Feb 2019, 3 years before Russia acted, The Nation gave this account.
Five years ago, Ukraine’s Maidan uprising ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, to the cheers and support of the West. Politicians and analysts in the United States and Europe not only celebrated the uprising as a triumph of democracy, but denied reports of Maidan’s ultranationalism, smearing those who warned about the dark side of the uprising as Moscow puppets and useful idiots. Freedom was on the march in Ukraine. Today, increasing reports of far-right violence, ultranationalism, and erosion of basic freedoms are giving the lie to the West’s initial euphoria. There are neo-Nazi pogroms against the Roma,(gypsies) rampant attacks on feminists and LGBT groups, book bans, and state-sponsored glorification of Nazi collaborators.
The state-sponsored glorification of Nazi collaborators has continued apace.
Streets re-named, statues erected, you name it.
Just a few days ago the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said this.
“At the same time, (as Russian language was banned in Donbas) the encouragement of Nazi ideology and practice was enshrined in law. The apotheosis of the Nazification of Ukraine was the genuflection of V. Zelensky and other figures of his regime before the remains of Hitler’s collaborators, transported with royal honors from Europe for reburial in Kyiv. Moreover, they plan to create a “pantheon of Ukrainian heroes” from these satanic graves on the grounds of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, sacred to all Orthodox Christians. It is sad that our former allies in the fight against Hitler’s Nazism turn a blind eye to such antics.”
This Nazification of Ukraine barely got a mention in the Western media, but Le Monde can hold its head high — The reburial of Andriy Melnyk (1890-1964) and his wife, Sofia Fedak-Melnyk (1901-1990), was overseen by Volodymyr Zelensky on May 25, in the presence of numerous dignitaries, including former president Viktor Yushchenko (2005-2010); the head of the presidential administration, Kyrylo Budanov; and the parliament speaker, Ruslan Stefanchuk. By describing Melnyk as a “great Ukrainian figure,” Zelensky took a significant step on one of the country’s most sensitive memory issues, a subject he had previously addressed with great caution.
Melnyk was not an ordinary historical figure. A key figure in 20th-century Ukrainian nationalism, he was one of the leaders of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and went on to head the faction that bore his name (OUN-M) after the movement split from Stepan Bandera (1909-1959), who became his main rival. In their struggle for Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union, OUN supporters collaborated with Nazi Germany and took part in the Holocaust.
To give an idea of the nature of Melnyk, he became leader of the ultra-nationalist OUN in 1938, and continued to lead the OUN-M in exile until his death in 1964.
An OUN order from early 1944 stated: Liquidate all Polish traces. Destroy all walls in the Catholic Church and other Polish prayer houses. Destroy orchards and trees in the courtyards so that there will be no trace that someone lived there…. Pay attention to the fact that when something remains that is Polish, then the Poles will have pretensions to our land”.
Sound familiar?
Are we sensing a link between Gaza and Ukraine?
In Feb this year Penny Wong proudly announced that “Australia has committed over $1.7 billion in total assistance, including $1.5 billion in military support to help Ukraine defend itself.”
Just a few days ago she further announced that “ The Australian Government will provide an additional $60 million in support to Ukraine, including $45 million in Australian Defence Force equipment, $10 million for Ukraine’s Energy Support Fund and $5 million in humanitarian assistance.”
We can assume that our Department of Foreign Affairs reads newspapers, including foreign newspapers. After all, their reason for being, is foreign goings on.
And what else can they do all day to justify their existence?
So when the Russian invasion began, Australia knew that the aid we were sending to Ukraine was helping to resurrect the reputations of Ukrainians who collaborated with the Nazis, who slaughtered 100,000 Poles including women and children, and who took part in the Holocaust.
Our government participated in the lie that support for Ukraine is support for Western values.
This was deliberately intended as a lie to deceive, to appeal to our better nature to get us onside, but the awful irony is that in the end, it was not a lie.
Our support for Ukraine is indeed support for Western values.
Values such as ethnic purity, pillage, and oppression, that we support in Gaza.
We still sell F-35 parts to Israel, remember.
Those who assume that there is no link between the project to depopulate Gaza, and Ukraine’s attempt to de-Russify the Donbas, need to re-evaluate.
Gaza, and Donbas, are Western values up in lights to ensure that everyone gets the message.
I made the claim above that there is a link between Gaza and Donbas, a link based on our support for Nazi policies.
The lack of response, for or against, suggests that this was a bit hard to swallow.
To be fair, it was quite a bit to take in.
Because it rested on not just our tolerance of the Nazi influence in Ukraine and Gaza, but our solid support for those Nazi ambitions.
Let’s look at it in a bit more detail.
We should be under no illusions about the extreme right-wing influence in Ukraine. (See Noel’s article on this very matter — Memory politics – a tragic military strategy in Ukraine — https://theaimn.net/memory-politics-a-tragic-military-strategy-in-ukraine/)
This right-wing activism is a re-emergence of Nazi ideology, complete with white supremacy, racial purity, ethnic cleansing and a re-writing of history.
And the West supported the rise of these Nazis to a position of influence in Ukraine.
During the Maidan protests, US Senator John McCain stood shoulder to shoulder with the leaders of Nazi groups on a protest platform, urging the overthrow of the elected government.
US officials on the ground in Kiev during the protests, organised the composition of the coup government prior to the coup, and prevented Europe’s establishment of a power sharing interim government until fresh elections could be held. That was behind Victoria Nuland’s now famous phone declaration to Geoffrey Pyatt, the U.S. ambassador to Kiev,–”Fuck the EU!”
Right-wing extremists were given positions of power in that government despite not having great voter support.
And just as the German Nazis had ambitions to secure the vast resources of Russia, so do today’s Nazis in Ukraine.
But securing Russian resources requires war with Russia.
This is where the West’s tolerance of Nazism became an alliance with Nazism.
The Cato Institute reported in March 2022 — Washington Helped Trigger the Ukraine War.
The magnitude of the aggressive moves taken by the Pentagon and CIA are just now becoming apparent.
Evidence grew in recent years that the United States had begun to treat Ukraine as a NATO ally in all but name. Steps included pouring nearly $3 billion in “security assistance” (primarily weaponry) into the country since 2014.
From 2014 to 2022 the conflict in Ukraine was a “family affair”, with Kiev and the Donbas governments working out details of signed agreements relating to the Donbas remaining within Ukraine as autonomous zones.
What possible interest could NATO and the CIA have in a local dispute of no global significance?
Obviously, there was more to it than was outlined in the media.
The West, deprived of their colonial fiefdoms, had long looked with envy at Russia — a vast country, sparsely populated, and holding immense reserves of natural resources of every type imaginable.
For the West, principally the US, securing a West-aligned Ukraine was the first step to gaining control of those resources. We should be under no illusion about this — that was the plan.
NATO let the cat out of the bag when Jens Stoltenberg let it slip that the Ukraine war did not start with the Russian intervention in 2022, it started with the coup in 2014.
The Donbas had to be re-secured to allow for access to Russian resources.
Two Rand reports in 2019 outlined how Russia was to be controlled.
Rand does not spend time and money producing reports for the fun of it.
The reports were commissioned and the recommendations, mainly involving destabilisation, were followed to the letter in 2022.
The “unprovoked invasion” was the icing on the cake.
The West required the Russian intervention to justify a conflict that they mistakenly believed would cripple Russia.
The wars in West Asia, and the war on the Donbas are part of the West’s determination to retain the primacy of the liberal world order.
Even though Ukraine has most likely been lost to the West, they continue to sacrifice the country and its people as a lesson to those who might consider moving out of the Western sphere of influence.
The message is– Take a look at wasteland that is now Ukraine. Take a look at Gaza. That is the result of non-compliance.
But back to the Nazi link.
It’s of some significance that the German concept of lebensraum — conquest, expansion, and resource theft, was inspired from outside Germany.
In particular, the European colonization of North America.
Hitler and Nazi officials took a particular interest in the US genocide of Native Americans, and in the US doctrine of Manifest Destiny, and attempted to replicate those in occupied Europe.
Well, well.
History might not repeat, but it certainly rhymes.
The wheel of plunder has turned full circle.
And by supporting Ukraine, by not supporting the Palestinians, we are happily dancing to a tune that will go down as one of the most shameful pages in human history.
From Politico today — The Trump administration is excluding several major allies from a gathering of NATO members next month — after previous threats to deploy a “naughty and nice list” against governments that have run afoul of the president’s priorities.
The planned meeting in Poland, which Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby has spearheaded, is essentially a working group focused on NATO’s future, according to six diplomats familiar with the planning. But many of the countries who didn’t receive an invite — such as the United Kingdom, France and the Baltic countries — are big defense spenders and play key roles in the alliance, leaving their diplomats wondering why they’re being frozen out.
“…a working group focused on NATO’s future”, ???
We can see now why desperation reigns in Europe because of NATO’s ill-fated adventure in Ukraine.
By assisting Ukraine in its illegal attacks on the Ukrainian citizens in the Donbas, NATO became a party to war crimes.
NATO has been guilty of this in the past — Yugoslavia, Libya — and got away with it, but this time the Russian speaking people of the Donbas had a powerful ally.
With the ICJ now considering whether Ukraine’s attacks amounted to genocide, there would be a few nervous nellies in NATO.
And with Jens Stoltenberg saying about 3 years ago that a loss in Ukraine might seal the fate of NATO, or words to that effect, the weakening of NATO that we see in this move today could signal the end of the NATO war machine.
One was a former comedian who se is an astur lader in every sense of the word, the other just a sly comdeian!
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2026/09/26/inside-albaneses-factional-dominance-theyve-all-been-executed-except-one?
https://pearlsandirritations.com/post/2026/09/parliament-and-the-public-service-are-getting-their-roles-wrong/?