War in Ukraine explained

• From a Russian speaker to a Russian muter 2023-Oct-24

  This is a very personal article. It’s about my own life experience. But many Ukrainians can relate to this story to some extent.

• What war in Ukraine compares to? 2023-Mar-17

  I often get questions from foreigners, who try to understand what the situation in Ukraine actually is. How does it compare with other conflicts over the world and in history? What is so special about Russian language and Russian minority in Ukraine?

• Russian-made cannon fodder genocide 2023-Mar-08

  Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. It’s not only a military invasion to conquer lands, it’s also an invasion to eliminate Ukrainian nation, which can rightly be called a genocide. It’s a horrible thing by itself. But maybe there is one more genocide happening now. It’s hidden and is happening within Russia and territories it controls. It may be called a “genocide by cannon-foddering” or a “cannon fodder genocide”.

• Is Ukraine really divided into pro-European and pro-Russian? 2023-Mar-06

  The simplified narrative about Ukraine is like this: there is a pro-Western part of Ukraine and pro-Russian part of Ukraine and all people, presidents and politicians in Ukraine are divided into the two camps — pro-Western and pro-Russian. This is often accompanied by the picture similar to this:

• Ukraine used to be a Russian friend 2023-Mar-03

  This is a graph[1] which shows how the Ukrainians attitude towards Russia changed over time. I want you to look at it and remember the way it looks. Please note the two sharp attitude changes in 2014 and 2022.

• Donbas is Ukraine 2023-Mar-01

  You may hear Russian propaganda telling you that Donbas is a Russian territory and that oppressed Russians live there, therefore Russia helps them. There are too many wrongs in these statements. I discussed some these claims in the other articles (I will provide links below), but now I want to concentrate on the claim that Donbas is not a “real Ukraine”. Donbas is indeed Ukraine, politically, ethnically and historically.

• Is Zelensky a Western puppet? 2023-Feb-25

  People outside Ukraine usually did not know much about the country before the 2022 Russian invasion. And only after Russia invaded Ukraine, Ukraine started making headlines. And since most of the NATO countries and democracies around the world started helping Ukraine, Zelensky looked as a very pro-Western politician. So pro-Western that someone goes so far as to call him a Western puppet. But this is only because rarely who cared about Zelensky before the 2022 in the world.

• Russians will hate Putin pretty soon 2023-Feb-15

  I gave the main message away already in the title. Read further if you wonder why I think so.

• Ukraine as a messenger of peace in the world 2023-Feb-09

  Why Ukraine’s position is unique and how we can use it to bring peace to the world (a translation of my Ukrainian article Україна, як посол миру в світі)

• Russian lies example, part 4. Time travelling. 2023-Jan-22

  In order to see the fuller picture people usually read from various sources. This is logical, because sides may be biased, but reading two biased sides may bring some clarity. This was my approach as well. And I decided to watch Russian news about the Euromaidan, which started in 2013. And that was a day when I stopped watching Russian news. The reason was that it was not another opinion on the same fact. They presented wrong facts. In other words — they lied.

• Ukrainian 2014 revolution as a KGB plot? 2023-Jan-16

  I often hear that US CIA plotted and orchestrated the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity in 2014 (also known as Euromaidan, also referred to as a Anticonsitutional Coup by pro-Russian media). No real proofs are given, but no proofs are needed for a conspiracy theory. Those who believe it, don’t care about proofs. However, what I want to show that it’s also easy to make Euromaidan to look as an insidious Russian plan, staged by KGB (renamed to FSB in recent years). All logical, with same amount of proofs (i.e. none).

• What values Russia offers to ordinary Russians? 2023-Jan-09

  After Russia invaded Ukraine I could not fall asleep for many months, because one single thought occupied my mind “How could they do it? Why ordinary Russians support these atrocities?” You know, after Russians for centuries called Ukrainians a “brotherly nation” or “eternal friends” this whole invasion looked surreal.

• Ukrainian Revolutions named Maidans explained 2023-Jan-08

  People from outside of Ukraine mostly know about Ukrainian revolutions of 2004 and 2013/2014, known as first and second Maidan. Because other Ukrainian protests were not shown in non-Ukrainian news, people may get a false impression that no other large-scale protests ever happened in Ukraine; that these two Maidans were alien things for Ukraine; and that these were orchestrated by foreign forces.

• Absurdity of compromises with Russia 2023-Jan-02

  A short (imaginary and ironic) play between Ukraine, Russia and a Peacemaker which shows an absurdity of seeking the compromise with Russia

• Russian minority in Ukraine do not live in siloed ghettos 2022-Dec-09

  People from outside of Ukraine do not always understand what does it mean to be a Russian minority in Ukraine. Because usually when they hear “minority” they think of Kurds in Iraq, Chechens in Russia or Cherokee in USA. However Russians in Ukraine are more like Irish or German in USA. They are an integral part of Ukrainian society and not a special group, which require some special handling.

• Ukraine-Russia historical differences. Empire vs Fight for Independence. 2022-Nov-27

  I will show profound differences between Ukraine and Russia from the historical perspective. First I will show the actual historical differences. Then I will jump to why this history defines Ukraine and Russia. And because we are in the busy world, I gave away the main message already in the header. Russia is an empire, while Ukraine has never been. And this matters. Why? Read further.

• Russian lies examples, part 3. Who invades who? 2022-Nov-21

  This is the third article in my Russian postmodernist lies inquiry series. This time we will try to understand what do some simple verbs, like attack and defend mean. And what they mean in modern Russian.

• Are Russia and Ukraine similar? Politics showcase 2022-Nov-16

  To my surprise people from outside sometimes regard Ukraine and Russia be similar. Even though a mere glimpse on a map can show how wrong this view is, I will try to explain why Ukraine and Russia are indeed different.

• Russian lies examples, part 2. Who are Nazi? 2022-Nov-14

  This is the second article in my Russian postmodernist lies inquiry series. (first is about who are Russians). This time the question is Who are Nazi?

• Russian lies examples, part 1. Who are Russian? 2022-Nov-12

  People who only recently started watching, reading or listening Russian propaganda may be surprised by how the facts are presented there. They often make sense, but in some bizarre way. Facts stop feeling real. After some time one starts questioning not only Russian propaganda, but even some reliable sources. And actually that’s the point. One of the purposes of Russian propaganda is to make people question and doubt everything. I call it Russian postmodernism.

• Why Ukraine chooses war over peace? 2022-Nov-05

  People now are often talking about peace talks with Russia. And question why Ukraine continues fighting. Putin proposes peace, no? I will try to explain what is wrong with Putin’s peace.

• NATO provoked Russia to start the war in Ukraine 2022-Nov-01

  Short story of NATO provoking Russia [1][2] to start the war in Ukraine

• Why Ukraine chose NATO and not Russian CSTO? 2022-Oct-31

  In case you did not know, there is an organisation, similar to NATO, but lead by Russia. And it’s called CSTO.

• Annexed Kherson is pro-Ukrainian in vast majority 2022-Oct-26

  Kherson is one of four recently annexed Ukrainian regions in 2022. Russia claims that the September sham-referendum got 87% votes to join Russia[1]. Could that be true even in theory?

• Prepare for a nuclear war (unless Ukraine wins) 2022-Oct-14

  Budapest memorandum, NPT and why succumbing to Russian threats makes Nuclear War inevitable

• Crimea has Russian majority: dirty story 2022-Oct-12

  Modern Russian-Ukrainian war started in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea — which by that time was part of Ukraine for 60 years. And it was internationally recognized so, even by Russia.

• All the reasons to invade Ukraine 2022-Oct-04

  So why did Russia invade Ukraine exactly? There are many reasons and I will go through them one by one with my comments. And then I will pin-point the most logical reason, which, though, shouldn’t be a surprise.

• Russian absurd annexation of Zaporizhzhia 2022-Oct-02

  On September 30th Russian president Putin signed a paper about annexation of four Ukrainian regions (oblast) — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia based on the sham referendum results held there.

• Genocide of Russians in Ukraine — is it real? (No) 2022-Sep-22

  One of the reasons for Russia to attack Ukraine was the alleged genocide of Russians in Ukraine. Is there such genocide? Short answer — no, there’s none. Please read further for more information.

• Russia to Europe invasion plan if Ukraine surrenders 2022-Sep-15

  Why doesn’t Ukraine simply surrender? Do we really want a nuclear war? How Russia can occupy whole Europe by using this logic.

• Is Russian language forbidden in Ukraine? 2022-Sep-15

  Russia claims that Russians in Ukraine are oppressed, because their language is forbidden. Is that true? Short answer — no it is not. If you want to know details, please read further.

• Did Ukrainians kill 14000 Russian civilians in Donbas? 2022-Sep-13

  Russia claims that Ukrainian soldiers killed 14000 Russian civilians in Donbas (part of Eastern Ukraine where conflict took place) during the 2014–2021. Protecting Russian-speaking civilians was one of the reasons for Russia invading Ukraine. Where did this number come from? Shortly — this number comes from a UN report and is a total death toll, including military personnel from both sides. Civilian death toll is lower — about 3400 and includes 300 people from MH17 aircraft and there were very few casualties in the years 2020–2021. 14000 killed by Ukrainians is a lie. Read further for more details.

• Was there an 2014 coup in Ukraine which resulted in Kiev regime? 2022-Sep-11

  According to Russia there was an unconstitutional coup in Ukraine in 2014 which resulted in “Kiev regime”, or as Russia calls it sometimes — junta. Are these claims true? Short answer — no. There were two democratic elections between 2014 and 2022 with the big change in power in 2019. If you want to know more — read further.

• Should Russia denazify Ukraine? 2022-Sep-07

  What is nazism? Is Ukraine a nazi country? Is Russia a nazi country? What about WW2 collaborators and Azov batallion?

• Spheres of Influence vs Fight for Freedom — Ukrainian choice 2022-Sep-03

  "Ukraine is under a Russian sphere of influence — and NATO wanted to put Ukraine into its sphere of influence. It’s logical that Russia attacked — Ukraine is just a pawn in the game, NATO shouldn’t have provoked Russia". What’s wrong with this statement?

• Russia-Ukraine war is at least 300 years old 2022-Jun-02

  Why Russia-Ukraine war is not a NATO’s proxy war. Writing this in English, because Ukrainians know this anyway.