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Montreal Gazette
4 days ago
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Hanes: Disinformation and hate threaten to drown out lessons of history
Heidi Berger has spent the better part of the last decade trying to get Quebec to make education about genocide compulsory in schools. Now she finds herself caught between the lessons of history and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, in a polarized political climate where the word genocide has been weaponized. 'It's tough times,' said Berger, founder of the Montreal-based Foundation for Genocide Education. 'It's very, very tough.' Inspired by her late mother's commitment to sharing the story of surviving the Holocaust, Berger started the organization to promote teaching young people about some of the greatest atrocities of the 20th century in order to prevent such mass murders from ever happening again. After much lobbying and nudging, a tool kit was developed three years ago for the Quebec Ministry of Education by pedagogical experts to help teachers delve into the difficult topic of genocide. It covers those that occurred in Armenia, Namibia, Rwanda and Bosnia, as well as the Holocaust, the Holodomor, when the Soviet Union starved millions of Ukrainians, and crimes against Indigenous Peoples. Although the guide remains optional in schools, it was nevertheless a major breakthrough in Berger's quest. Then Oct. 7 happened and put everything the foundation had accomplished to the test. 'What has really been so heavy on my heart is the obstacles to teaching about the Holocaust and genocide after Oct. 7,' she said. 'It's been challenging to give our presentations by children of Holocaust survivors to schools which previously welcomed us. I have to be honest: There are a number of schools who have cancelled scheduled presentations because they cite concerns that discussing the Holocaust or genocide in general may trigger emotions in their students. There's also a fear of reprisals from parents. And there's also a basic lack of training in how to mediate discussions on the topic.' Teaching about a subject as painful, sensitive and complex as genocide has never been easy, but it has become all the more difficult since Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 and taking 250 hostage. The word genocide went from being an obscure term to a ubiquitous accusation chanted at protests against Israel for its ongoing bombardment of Gaza. Rhetoric has hardened on both sides, with some now referring to Hamas not just as a terror group but a 'genocidal' terrorist organization due to its explicit goal of wiping Israel off the map. Support for Israel's right to defend itself has waned as the war drags on and two ceasefires have faltered. More than 55,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza health ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants. Apartment blocks have been levelled, millions of Palestinians have been displaced inside Gaza and there are frequent warnings that Israel restricting aid is pushing the population toward starvation. There's no doubt the human suffering is awful. But is it unlawful? South Africa brought a complaint of genocide against Israel to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The ICC cautioned Israel about committing genocide and issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister, as well as the masterminds of the Hamas attack, who have since been assassinated. History will ultimately judge whether this is genocide. But in the meantime, the public has formed its own opinions, as sympathy for Palestinians grows and shock over the tragedy of Oct. 7 fades. In a new online poll by Léger conducted in early June, almost half of 1,100 Canadians surveyed — 49 per cent — agreed that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. And those views were solicited before Israel started bombing Iran to contain the existential threat of its nuclear program in a dramatic escalation of already tense hostilities in the Middle East. A closer look at the Léger poll shows that over 60 per cent of respondents who identify as Liberal, New Democratic, Bloc Québécois or Green party voters hold the view that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, compared to 37 per cent who declared themselves Conservatives. There is a deep split in public opinion despite the fact 46 per cent of respondents told pollsters they barely understood or had a poor understanding of the conflict. These findings illustrate the strong emotions surrounding Israel's pulverization of Gaza, but also the fallout from a social media shadow war playing out since Oct. 7. On Thursday, the Foundation for Genocide Education is hosting a fundraiser where journalist and author Warren Kinsella will speak about propaganda and hate in an age of disinformation. Kinsella, who recently returned from Israel, is writing a book and producing a documentary on the digital campaign 'to shape history, sway public opinion, and control the narrative surrounding one of the world's most polarizing conflicts.' Iranian-funded propaganda against Israel began well before Hamas's 2023 attack. But in November 2023, the New York Times uncovered a 'deluge of online propaganda and disinformation' spread by Iran, Russia and to a lesser extent China 'that is larger than anything seen before.' 'It's fascinating and surprisingly sophisticated what they did,' Kinsella said in an interview. Kinsella's talk will look at how anti-Israel attitudes, once the domain of the far right, have now been adopted by the progressive left. They have been strongly embraced by younger generations, who tend to see Israel's actions through the lens of their post-colonial, anti-racist values. Israel, meanwhile, has failed to tell its own story effectively, said Kinsella, once an adviser to prime minister Jean Chrétien, resulting in the Jewish community writ large being blamed for Netanyahu's war. 'Israel has done a really, really crummy job of communications,' said Kinsella. 'Israel needs to tell a better story about itself.' Legitimate criticism of Netanyahu's merciless bombing of Gaza is sometimes misconstrued as antisemitism. But it shouldn't be. Even within Israel, there is visceral opposition and loud dissent. 'Enough is enough. Israel is committing war crimes,' former prime minister Ehud Olmert wrote in Haaretz on May 27. And in an interview with Israeli public radio, Yair Golan, a retired general and leader of Israel's Democrats party, said: 'Israel is on its way to becoming a pariah state among nations, like South Africa was, if we don't return to acting like a sane country. And a sane country does not wage war against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby, and does not give itself the aim of expelling populations.' But this range of opinion is rarely heard outside Israel. Instead, practically the entire Jewish diaspora has been painted with the same brush — vilified, discredited and scapegoated. The conflict has unleashed an alarming tidal wave of hate toward both the Jewish and Muslim communities in Canada and around the world. But the scourge of antisemitism, which the New York Times editorial board recently characterized as 'the oldest hate,' has been particularly vicious. While Israel was still mourning its dead and counting the numbers of hostages taken, Hamas supporters celebrated the attack in the streets of Montreal and other Canadian cities. In Montreal, bullets have been fired at Jewish schools and firebombs tossed at synagogues. College and university campuses have become battle zones where Jewish students feel intimidated for showing visible signs of their identity, daring to defend Israel's right to exist, or demonstrating for the return of the hostages. In recent weeks, antisemitism has reached dangerous new levels. A young Jewish couple who worked at the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., were shot to death leaving an event at the Holocaust museum there. An arsonist firebombed the home of Pennsylvania's Jewish governor on Passover. An assailant in Boulder, Colo., attacked a crowd of protesters rallying for the release of Israeli hostages, injuring 15, including a Holocaust survivor. This violent turn is not only worrisome for the Jewish community, which was already feeling unsafe in Montreal as elsewhere, but also for democracy and society as a whole. As has often been pointed out when it comes to dark chapters in history: It starts with the Jews, but it doesn't end with the Jews. This is why education about genocide is so important. It teaches critical thinking skills and helps students identify the warning signs that lead to mass murder, which are classification, separation, stigmatization, dehumanization, justification and elimination. The foundation relies on the United Nations' 1948 definition of genocide, which is 'acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group,' including killing; causing serious bodily or mental harm; deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction; imposing measures intended to prevent births; and forcibly transferring children. There is certainly room for discussion about how these criteria apply to both history and current events. But rational debate has become a struggle, Berger said. There were complaints after a recent presentation at one school where the foundation has long been sending the children of Holocaust survivors to speak. 'There was a small cohort of very vocal Arab-Palestinian parents who accused us and the principal and the board of governors of the school of us sending in representatives to platform pro-Israel views and to weaponize the Holocaust as a justification for Israel's actions in Gaza,' Berger said. 'We spoke to the principal after and we don't know if they're going to invite us back next year. Are they going to be afraid?' Other schools have also stopped calling or are saying 'no thanks' when the foundation gets in touch. Most painful of all, there has been a schism in the ranks of the survivors of other genocides who the foundation sends to schools as speakers. 'We had an Armenian presenter that we'd trained who went into schools to talk about her grandparents and the Armenian genocide. It was the only presentation of that kind anywhere. And she quit. She didn't want to be associated with us,' Berger said. 'We also had a Rwandan quit on us. Also a young Rwandan survivor himself, who quit on us, because we didn't want to say that Israel is committing a genocide because we don't believe it. In the meantime, we had a presenter who wanted us to remove the word genocide from our name.' Instead of bringing people together to connect the dots of the hate and discrimination that can lead to genocide, the Jewish community, which forged the template for 'never again,' is once again ostracized. Out of both necessity and circumstance, the foundation's focus has narrowed somewhat. 'We've had to shift more of our focus to educating about the Holocaust. Because when we go into schools to give presentations about the Holocaust, we talk about the history of antisemitism. And this is directly tied to the students' understanding of why and how this hate is resurfacing under the guise of anti-Israel protest and hate,' Berger said. 'What the problem is now in schools, we're told by teachers it's very cool for kids to be antisemitic. It's a very cool thing. And genocide is a very hot, controversial word now. It wasn't before, but it is now.' As disinformation, discrimination and hate threaten to drown out the lessons of history, Berger remains steadfast in her goal of making education about genocide mandatory in Quebec schools to honour her mother's legacy. 'Still to me that is the most powerful tool we have,' she said.
Asia Times
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Asia Times
Russia's war on Ukrainian children
As Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine grinds well into its fourth year, children remain among the war's most vulnerable victims. Ballistic missiles have struck homes, schools, hospitals, and playgrounds. Russia is not only targeting children with missiles, it aims to militarize Ukrainian children on the occupied territories to prepare them for a future war with the West. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called attention to what he describes as the deliberate targeting of children. 'It is wrong and dangerous to keep silent about the fact that it is Russia that is killing children with ballistic missiles,' he said. Twelve people were killed and 90 civilians – including six children – were injured in a large-scale Russian missile and drone strike on Kyiv on April 24. US President Donald Trump even recently asked his advisers if Russian dictator Vladimir Putin 'has changed since Trump's last time in office, and expressed surprise at some of Putin's military moves, including bombing areas with children.' The attack came just weeks after a devastating April 4 strike on the city of Kryvyi Rih where a Russian cluster-armed Iskander-M ballistic missile hit the city of Kryvyi Rih killing 18 people, including nine children, and wounding over 40 others. One of the youngest victims was just three months old. The attack was a brutal reminder of Russia's continued terror tactics, such as the July 2024 strike on Kyiv's Okhmatdyt children's hospital, a facility filled with young cancer patients. Ruslan, call sign ' a commander in Ukraine's 23rd Brigade, said Russia systematically targets civilians. 'Hospitals, residential buildings, and shopping centers are struck, yet Russian media claims they're hitting military facilities.' Peter Gelpi, an American volunteer in Ukraine since 2022, said he has been targeted despite driving vehicles clearly marked as 'humanitarian' and 'volunteer.' 'Each strike was extremely accurate,' he said. 'These can't be mistakes.' Between April 1 and April 24 alone, Russian strikes killed 151 people and injured 697 others, according to the UN – a 46% increase in civilian casualties from the same period last year. Russia's war on children extends beyond missile strikes. It has forcibly deported more than 19,000 children to Russia. These actions have drawn accusations of genocide. During the 1932–1933 Holodomor (death by hunger), children were among the most vulnerable and targeted victims of the Soviet-engineered famine in Ukraine. The Soviet government starved millions of Ukrainians to death. Despite their parents' desperate efforts to protect them, millions of children starved, with historians estimating between 1.5 to 4 million child deaths. Those who survived often grew up in orphanages that functioned as death camps, and many remain unrecognized as official victims. 'The Holodomor has played a pivotal historical role in Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine. Beyond the battlefield, this war has been, in many ways, about the fight for historical narratives,' said John Vsetecka, Assistant Professor of History at Nova Southeastern University. Natalia Kuzovova, Head of the Department of History, Archeology and Teaching Methods at Kherson State University, reflected on the generational efforts of Russia to kill Ukrainians, stating, 'We talk about children who will grow up. Yet hundreds of Ukrainian children will never reach adulthood because they were killed by Russia.' She drew parallels with the Holodomor, when the status of children in society differed significantly from today. At that time, the family structure was patriarchal, survival hinged on a man's physical labor, and society was not child-centered. Family relations extended beyond the modern concept of a nuclear family, and during the Holodomor, as well as during the campaign against peasants considered wealthy, called kulaks, starting in the 1920s, entire 'households' were subjected to repression. 'Even very young children were labeled enemies of the Soviet state and deported with their families, many dying en route or becoming orphans,' said Kuzovova. Teenagers were arrested for failing to meet grain quotas and starved to death in prisons and penal colonies. Children whose parents had been arrested were often left on the streets without care, and those placed in shelters perished due to a lack of food. 'It is believed,' Kuzovova noted, 'that the most numerous victims of the Holodomor were children under the age of four, due to their mothers' loss of lactation and the absence of age-appropriate food.' 'Even very young children were labeled enemies and deported with their families,' she said. 'Children starved in shelters, prisons, and streets.' The most common victims, she noted, were children under four. The psychological toll on today's children is immense. Yuliia Matvievieva of the Volia Fund said reports show rising rates of anxiety, sleep disorders, PTSD, and depression. Displacement, broken family ties, constant danger, and emotionally unavailable caregivers are all contributing factors. 'Children retreat into the internet,' said Alina Holovko, coordinator at Dobra Sprava. 'They live under chronic stress, fear of death, and psychological overload.' She noted that schools need bomb shelters and spaces for group activities. 'In-person schooling would solve many psychological issues,' she said. Sophia Yushchenko, co-founder of Code for Ukraine, said children will face lifelong consequences. 'Education is disrupted, families are broken, and their sense of safety is gone,' she said. She divided the crisis into three groups. First, children in free territories who have suffered physically and emotionally. Second, those abroad who may never return. Third, those in occupied zones taken to reeducation camps or adopted into Russian families. The UN has hesitated to call this genocide, but Yushchenko pointed to the Genocide Convention's clause on forcibly transferring children. 'That's exactly what's happening,' she said. She added that Russian troops often bring textbooks, destroy Ukrainian literature and churches, and install pro-Russia curriculum. 'They replace identity with militarism,' she said. Since 2014, Russia has promoted 'patriotic education' in occupied Ukraine. After 2022, those efforts accelerated. Groups like Yunarmia indoctrinate children with military ideology. Some members have gone on to fight against Ukraine. On May 9, children in red berets marched through Red Square in Moscow, not to celebrate peace, but as part of Russia's growing militarized youth corps, Yunarmiya. Russia also seems to be using children's summer camps in occupied Crimea as human shields to deter Ukrainian strikes, violating international humanitarian law by placing military assets near civilian areas. During the Istanbul talks in early June, Russia's lead negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, reportedly mocked Ukraine's demand to return deported children, dismissing it as 'a show for childless European grandmothers.' The UN reports over 2,500 Ukrainian children killed or injured since the full-scale invasion. These are not isolated tragedies, but the result of a systematic campaign to terrorize civilians and break Ukraine's resolve. It echoes the brutal tactics of the 1930s, when Moscow deliberately starved millions of Ukrainians during the Holodomor to crush their aspirations for independence. Then, as now, Russia seeks to subjugate Ukraine by targeting its most vulnerable. An associate research fellow of the London-based Henry Jackson Society think tank, David Kirichenko is a Ukrainian-American freelance journalist, activist and security engineer who, multiple times during the Ukraine War, has traveled to and worked in the areas being fought over. He can be found on the social media platform X @DVKirichenko
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Russia's persecution of Ukrainian clergy is part of an organized genocidal campaign
In 1953, Polish-American lawyer Raphael Lemkin, the man who coined the term "genocide," wrote a text titled Soviet Genocide in Ukraine. In it, Lemkin spoke not only about the Holodomor — the man-made famine organized in Ukraine by Stalin in 1932–1933 that claimed the lives of around 4 million people — but also about the Kremlin's broader genocidal practices against Ukrainians, which, he argued, had begun as early as the 1920s. Lemkin wrote that Ukrainians were too numerous to be exterminated entirely in the way Adolf Hitler had attempted with Europe's Jewish population. "Ukraine is highly susceptible to racial murder by select parts, and so the Communist tactics there have not followed the pattern taken by the German attacks against the Jews," the lawyer argued. He went on to describe how this was carried out: "The first blow is aimed at the intelligentsia, the national brain, so as to paralyze the rest of the body.... Going along with this attack on the intelligentsia was an attack against the churches, priests and hierarchy, the 'soul' of Ukraine." As an example of this attack against the "soul of the nation," Lemkin cited the liquidation of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Catholic Church. "That Russification was clearly demonstrated by the fact that before its liquidation, the Church was offered the opportunity to join the Russian Patriarchate of Moscow, the Kremlin's political tool," he emphasized. We are bringing back Lemkin's text again today, not for purely historical reasons. It helps explain what the Kremlin is currently doing in the territories of Ukraine it occupies. We already referenced Soviet Genocide in Ukraine last year. In our investigative documentary Destroy in Whole or in Part, we argued that Russia's current genocidal practices in Ukraine broadly mirror what the Soviet regime has been doing a century back. Our latest investigative documentary, No God but Theirs, which has just been released, compels us to revisit Lemkin's analysis once more. Read also: Breakaway churches, spiritual awakenings, prayers in captivity. How war is changing Ukraine's faith This investigation examines the systematic persecution of Ukrainian Christians in Melitopol — a city in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Oblast, occupied by Russia since February 2022. It tells the story of churches (Protestant and Catholic alike) being banned, stripped of all property, and of priests and congregants being arrested, interrogated, and exiled. While restrictions on religious freedoms are typical for Russia, the persecution in the occupied parts of Ukraine goes far beyond what occurs inside Russia itself. And these persecutions indeed resemble an attack on the "soul of the nation" — precisely the kind Lemkin described. It is an attack on Christians who, at the very outset of Russia's invasion, demonstrated a clear national identity. In response to the arrival of Russian troops and tanks in Melitopol, local believers began gathering daily on the city's central square. Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox Christians together resisted the Russian occupation through joint prayer for Ukraine. Moreover, in the chaos created by the Russian occupation, churches became islands of stability and order. Priests and pastors were seen more and more as moral authorities. For the Russians, therefore, to attack those churches in Melitopol meant also to strike against any alternative centers of power. And the parallels with Lemkin's text do not end there. Just as a hundred years back, as described by the author of the term "genocide," before simply banning the churches, the Russians attempted to absorb them first. Pastor Mykhailo Brytsyn of the Grace Baptist Church recounts in our documentary how the Russian troops offered him a chance to publicly support the Russian authorities. Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest Oleksandr Bohomaz tells how agents of Russian security services tried to coerce him into revealing the secrets of his confessional. Pentecostal pastor Dmytro Bodyu describes how, during his imprisonment and interrogations, he was offered the chance to become a Russian informant. Only after these efforts to convert Ukrainian clergymen in Melitopol into Russian assets had failed did Kremlin representatives decide to simply eliminate them — once again, fully following the model Lemkin described. And there is another crucial point to highlight. While restrictions on religious freedoms are typical for Russia, the persecution in the occupied parts of Ukraine goes far beyond what occurs inside Russia itself. This means that in places like occupied Melitopol, Russia is not merely replicating its usual policies — it is crafting a new, much harsher one specifically for Ukrainians. Given all this, our new investigation of the persecution of Ukrainian Christian churches in Melitopol is a direct continuation of the previous documentary, which laid out the genocidal intent behind Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Because, in line with Raphael Lemkin's deep and nuanced analysis, these persecutions amount to an attack on the Ukrainian nation as a group. An attempt to eradicate the soul of the Ukrainian nation — with the broader aim of destroying the nation in whole or in part. Ultimately, the story of the persecution of Christians in Melitopol gives yet another reason to finally dare to use, in reference to Russia's actions in Ukraine, the very word that Lemkin coined — genocide. Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in the op-ed section are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Kyiv Independent. Read also: Faith under fire: Russia's war on religion in Ukraine's occupied territories Submit an Opinion We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Metro
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Metro
Leader who killed 6,000,000 of his own honoured in new statue
The face of one of the worst dictators of the 20th century has been put on display in a busy Russian subway station. Joseph Stalin, who is estimated to have murdered at least 6,000,000 of his people during his brutal reign, is now portrayed in a white statue in Taganskaya station, Moscow. Stunned commuters were seen staring as they walked by the newly unveiled statue, a replica of an original which was removed six decades ago. Others were seen smiling and taking photos with Stalin's likeness leering over them in the historic subway station. One Russian pensioner said she was 'happy our leader got restored' – even though Stalin had taken her father prisoner in the Second World War. Liliya Medvedeva told the New York Times that Stalin could have sent her father to the gulag, but didn't. Others weren't fans. A history student called Stalin a 'bloody tyrant' when he saw the statue. Historian and propaganda analyst Ian Garner told Metro: 'The Russian state has been putting up statues of Stalin as part of a much broader program to rehabilitate Stalin's image. 'People who criticize Stalin or draw attention to crimes committed under Stalin are now threatened with jail, with media attacks. 'The state itself discusses Stalin in school textbooks, books, popular culture, movies as somebody who was a wise leader, who had the brilliant foresight to bring his country into the industrial age and most importantly to win the Second World War.' But Mr Garner points out, the crimes committed by stalin can't be covered up. They're common knowledge, but Russia's conduct towards Ukraine today shows that there is a true 'embrace' of the 'bad guys' in Russian culture. 'It's almost become good to commit violence, good to be aggressive because violence and aggression, especially when wrapped up with the image of a strong and decisive male leader is what supposedly gets things done. 'That's what supposedly saved Russia in the 1930s and 40s and it's what supposedly is going to save Russia today,' he said. Beginning in the early 1930s, Stalin executed around a million of his own citizens. He then forced hundreds of thousands of others to work in labour camps and go to prison. The murders of Kulaks, upper middle class farmers, sparked the famine in Ukraine, also known as the Holodomor. Between 1932 and 1933, up to five million peasants died of starvation in the Soviet Union thanks to Stalin's actions. More Trending As Mr Garner said, the Kremlin has been attempting to reintroduce Stalin for a few years now. There are more than 100 statues of Stalin across Russia today. Putin's reintroduction of Stalin after the removal of many of his statues in the 1960s could be attributed to the fact that he's the second longest serving Russian leader, behind Stalin. Though he hasn't outrightly praised Stalin, Putin has said that Russia 'shouldn't be ashamed of its history'. Yet, the new statue in central Moscow has divided modern-day Russians just as much as Stalin divided the country during his bloody reign. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: The bizarre reason Russia wants to ban Shrek and other beloved animations MORE: Putin threats to 'throttle' US firms like Microsoft and Zoom in words war with Trump MORE: British missiles could soon be used against Putin deep into his own territory
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
5 lies Europe tells itself about Russia's criminal war
Editor's note: This opinion first appeared in German in Süddeutsche Zeitung. Russia's President — a wanted war criminal — Vladimir Putin failed to show up in Istanbul for the 'direct talks' with Ukraine that he himself proposed. For the Kremlin to wage an unprovoked war of conquest, reject a ceasefire, and call it a peace effort is nothing new. Russia lies. In 2022, building up troops at the Ukrainian border, the Kremlin told us it had no intentions of invading. Russia lied. Eleven years ago, Putin claimed that the unmarked troops seizing administrative buildings in Ukrainian Crimea weren't his. Russia lied. Ninety years ago, Moscow starved millions of Ukrainians in an effort to break a nation's will to live free. What the world knows as the Holodomor — and what 35 countries have recognized as genocide — Russia denies. Russia lies all the time. Much ink has already been spilled over the Istanbul talks, the Kremlin's venal theatrics, and Washington's mixed signals. But the fundamentals remain unchanged. No one longs for peace more than Ukraine — it accepted an unconditional ceasefire in March. Russia did not. It still refuses to stop killing Ukrainians for the crime of being Ukrainian. To call out Russia's lies is no longer enough. Europe must confront — and discard — five lethal delusions of its own. Moscow frames its war of aggression as a neighborly dispute that spiraled out of control — a cynical and callous lie. But many nations entertain the claim, absolving themselves of the responsibility to help Ukraine expel the invaders. With an economy ten times the size of Russia's and three times the population, Europe pretends it has done all it could — sanctions, aid, thoughts, and prayers. But half-measures, laced with appeasement, have predictably failed to quench Moscow's appetite for war. When Russia invaded Georgia in 2008, it marked the collapse of the post-Cold War order. Europe flinched. A well-known serial killer isn't just knocking on the door — he's already inside the house. To call out Russia's lies is no longer enough. Europe must confront — and discard — five lethal delusions of its own. First, our fear of escalation fuels Russian aggression. The response to 2008 wasn't ignorance — it was fear. Instead of pacifying Moscow, our self-restraint emboldened it. Paralyzed by the belief that confronting Russia was too risky, Europe missed the memo: not confronting it was and remains the most dangerous option of all. Second, it's not Putin's war — it's Russia' one man is comforting, but a serious misreading of history. Russia was born an empire and never became a nation. Its rulers changed — tsars, commissars, now kleptocrats — but the colonizer impulses remain. The precursor state to today's Federation of Oppression, Muscovy, began as a tax collector for the Mongol khans, and it never stopped extracting, erasing, expanding. If the West denies agency to the millions of Russian people today and spares them responsibility for their government, it'll guarantee that history repeats itself. Third, yielding to nuclear coercion rewards the threat and ensures its return. The world changed forever when Moscow rattled its nukes — and the West responded not with resolve, but retreat. Timothy Snyder said it best: "By taking nuclear blackmail seriously, we have actually increased the overall chances of nuclear war. If nuclear blackmail enables a Russian victory, the consequences will be incalculably awful." The risk of a nuclear strike is never zero — but if Russia walks away with anything resembling a victory, the collapse of the non-proliferation regime is all but assured. Fourth, the frozen asset debate is backwards. Europe agonizes over whether transferring $300 billion in frozen Russian assets to Ukraine might set a dangerous precedent. But the flipside is worse: doing nothing signals that a pariah state can wage a war of annihilation — and keep the profits. After WWII, German assets helped rebuild what Hitler destroyed. What's different now? The Kremlin chose to launch a criminal war and thus forfeited any claim to be treated as a respectable sovereign actor. Making Russia pay is the only fair outcome. Finally, Ukraine is a security provider for Europe, not a security resisting the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has severely degraded Moscow's military capabilities. It chose to stand and fight rather than surrender — a gift the Free World has yet to fully appreciate. Ukraine's valour is Europe's shield. A NATO-integrated Ukraine isn't a liability — it's what a credible and effective deterrent looks like. Our wishes notwithstanding, Istanbul was no turning point, but yet another chapter in a centuries-long pattern of deceit driven by Moscow's imperial ambition. Russia's own former foreign minister, Andrei Kozyrev, put it plainly: by appointing Vladimir Medinsky — a fringe propagandist loathed even in Russia — to lead the talks, Putin signaled open contempt for diplomacy and for Washington in particular. This wasn't negotiation — it was provocation in a cheap suit. The Free World, and Europe in particular, has the means, the direct strategic interest, and — if it finds the will — the moral responsibility to help Ukraine restore its sovereignty. Not just to punish aggression, but to break the cycle of appeasement that brought us here. Victory for Ukraine is not a gift. It is the price of peace in Europe — and the best guarantee that your children won't be drafted in the coming months or years to defend what remains of it. Read also: A minerals deal won't stop Russia's war We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
