Opinion piece by me:
Russia think they are strong because they were the political center of the Soviet Union as they are now the political center of the Russian federation.
But the reason the Soviet Union was strong was in large part due to the industry and innovation in Ukraine. Without it they have not been able to make new aircraft carriers, and most of their heavy bombers are also from when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union.Ukraine has clearly been punching way above their weight since Russia invaded. I know Ukraine has received a lot of help, but remember that first crucial month of the invasion, where Ukraine had not received help yet, they stood their ground against Russia, and inflicted heavy damage on them right from the start.
Now Ukraine has resisted Russia’s invasion for 3½ year, a power of 3-4 times the population, and even bigger economy because of their oil, and finally immense amounts of military equipment and factories inherited from the Soviet Union, and Russia having a huge military complex from being a major supplier to great powers like China and India and many countries around the world.
Despite all those immense advantages for Russia, Ukraine is now gaining the upper hand, and have developed better weapons than Russia has. And while Russia tried to destroy the Ukrainian infrastructure for years, Ukraine is now succeeding in destroying Russia’s instead!
I am honored that my government (Denmark) has been among the biggest supporters of Ukraine right from the start, and that we have pushed from the start to give Ukraine both more and better weapons.
Many countries have helped, and I’m happy to see so many countries are willing to stand up to a bully when it really counts.
But mostly I want to express my respect for Ukraine, for standing up against what was supposed to be an overwhelming opponent.Slava Ukraini
Thank you for your support!
Just one small caveat to your post (that I otherwise fully agree with).
Russia think they are strong because they were the political center of the Soviet Union as they are now the political center of the Russian federation.
I would say it goes back even before the USSR.
In essence, Tsarism, USSR, modern russia is all the same thing. A genocidal imperialist culture.
Mind you it doesn’t have to be that. I most definitely do not believe that russians are incapable of breaking this cycle and focusing on improving the lives of their own fellow citizens. It’s just that they don’t want to and they don’t have the incentive to do so.
In essence, Tsarism, USSR, modern russia is all the same thing. A genocidal imperialist culture.
You are absolutely right, and it’s insane when 3rd world countries ally with Russia to avoid “western” imperialism, because in that regard Russia is way up there as one of the most imperialistic countries ever.
I literally said this to a friend last week. If I had the ability to, I would offer to Ukraine to build a factory in my country and supply them with free drones in exchange for their knowledge and battle field testing. Well done Denmark for having the foresight
