Catherine Wanner, PhD is Professor of History, Anthropology and Religious Studies at the Pennsylvania State University. Her research centers on politics, religion, conflict-mediation and human rights, especially in Ukraine, but more broadly in Eastern Europe. She is the author or editor of six books. Her most recent book is Everyday Religiosity in and the Politics of Belonging in Ukraine (2022) Everyday Religiosity in and the Politics of Belonging in Ukraine (2022)
“We are all Ukrainians now,” wrote Adam Michnik, the Polish writer and dissident. He has experienced the full wrath of a repressive regime first-hand. His point is that we all now will too. After Vladimir Putin gave a doublespeak laced declaration of intent to “protect” Russian speakers in two disputed provinces in Ukraine from “genocide” at the hands of a “fascist junta” in Kyiv by launching systematic “denazification” of Ukraine’s government, Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine from all sides. Should he have left any doubt in anyone’s mind about his further intentions, in yet another anger-tinged rant on February 24, 2022, he expressed in no uncertain terms that, “Whoever tries to impede us, let alone create threats for our country and its people, must know that the Russian response will be immediate and lead to consequences that you have never seen in history. All relevant decisions have been taken. I hope you hear me…No one should have any doubts that a direct attack on our country will lead to destruction and horrible consequences for any potential aggressor.” Without directly saying: “, I will launch nuclear attacks on any country that tries to stop me from taking what is rightfully mine, even if it is an independent country, ”he communicated his readiness to use nuclear weapons. Few ever imagined Russia could attack Ukraine. Then again, few ever imagined that, in view of the MAD doctrine (Mutually Assured Destruction), any world leader would ever resort to actually using nuclear weapons. The result would be utterly calamitous for the entire world.
Ukraine is fighting not only for itself, but for the democratic values of state sovereignty and the freedom of national self-determination. Precisely because Ukraine would like to become a Western-style democratic state ruled by law, the country poses a mortal threat to Putin’s power and to that of his kleptocratic ruling cronies. Having a democratic regime on Russia’s borders might inspire Russians to instigate their own changes. Should Putin experience a fall from grace, he would likely encounter the fate he has meted out to the few who have dared to criticize him: prison or worse. What has started now will forever change us all, but especially Ukraine and Russia.
This is why, according to Putin’s demands, Ukraine must remain firmly in Moscow’s orbit, with a puppet government subservient to the whims of a distant dictator. Of course, the only way this will happen is through raw military force, which is what we are now witnessing. This is also why Ukrainians would prefer to fight to the death for the chance to develop a democratic form of government than to live again under a repressive, Stalinist-like with another authoritarian dictator who rules from Moscow. The first-time yielded tragedy. Ukrainians are in no mood to repeat that tragic suffering. Neither are we. This is why we need to care about Ukraine. Their fate is ours. We are all Ukrainians now.
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Previously Published on Historian Speaks
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