In his war declaration, Putin told the world that he is going on a mission to denazify Ukrain, a country with a Jewish president, who speaks Russian.
How is Ukraine Nazi? What does he mean? What does he think?
In the following, I will put myself in Putin's shoes. I do not agree with the opinions and ideas below, but, I believe, Putin does.
Putin's world is skit between Putin's Russian East and the Nazi West. Nazi, in his mind, is a way of saying "not Putin's", i.e., the other side, the opposition. The Nazi West is dominated by Nazi Germany, which never stopped being Nazi, in the same way Russia never stopped being Soviet and Putin's office still smells of Stalin.
Germany has started two world wars and lost both. Upon losing the first, the country was allowed to recover and be, again, the strongest on the European continent. Soon after, it started the second World War.
Upon losing the Second World War, plans were put in place to destroy Germany. The purpose, as the Soviets saw it, was the prevent Germany from dominating Europe again and starting another war. The Morgenthau Plan, which was never fully implemented, has the purpose to destroy the German war machine and make sure these people disperse across the world, engage in subsidence agriculture and never raise again.
In order to prevent it from building weapons, Germany was not supposed to develop industry of any kind. This would make sure it cannot produce weapons in case of war.
The world, however, is very different today.
German industry is the engine of Europe.
Germany is one of the largest exporters of arms worldwide.
The same work ethic that led to the success of the Nazis is now powering a modern western state. It's used wise political decisions and Frauen Power to position itself at the center of the European Union, and, after Brexit, remained the unmatched in economic and financial power in the EU. It's Deutschland Über Alles, Putin may say.
After all, if Hitler would have stayed in power, the German economic machine would probably make Europe something like what it is now. United under one flag, Putin may say. And, unlike under the Soviet flag, in "the Nazi" camp, the economy works.
Russia tried hard. It deported Volga Germans to Kazakhstan and Putin's KGB friends recruited many in Putin's Dresden for sunny Siberian holidays. Those Gulags brought Nazi labour and technique to Putin's Russia, but, it didn't stick.
Now, "the Nazi" the West keeps expanding further East. One by one, former Soviet republics came under the flags of EU and NATO: Romanians, Hungarians, East Germans, the Baltic states, and the Slavs -- Poles, Yugoslavs, Bulgarians, Czechs -- all have left Putin's Russia for Nazi Europe.
Ukraine has been the beating heart of the Soviet Union. Ukraine is the better half of Russia. Ukrainian and Russian share the same alphabet and are similar languages. Furthermore, virtually all Ukrainians, and, for sure, all those who matter speak Russian. Ukraine inherited Soviet nuclear power plants and bombs, one being the infamous Cernobil.
It wisely choose to destroy the bombs, in exchange for a guarantee from NATO and the International community for territorial integrity. As it is after the case, some politicians lied. I wonder what the future holds, if that group includes the Ukrainians.
Now, Ukraine has a democratically elected president. The Servant of the People is not a servant of Putin anymore. Ukraine is trying to joint the capitalist Nazi West and, while culturally, the people are virtually the same as father East, politically, even the Russians in Ukraine are free.
Demilitarize and Denazify very likely means bringing Ukraine back into Soviet Times, back under Putin's command.
But ... Putin is losing the war. He expected his planes to be met by peasants fighting with sticks or scared enough to give him flowers. Instead, he encounters the Nazi weapons, made by the German Nazi industrial machine -- one that works with the same people and the same work ethic as in the times of the Nazis.
The conflict runs on old conflict lines. On one side the Russians -- many, poor, unskilled and not terribly well armed and on the other, the Ukrainians holding "Nazi" made guns (Nazi = German, American etc.)
The Nazis used an equivalent of the nuclear option when it comes to the sanctions against Russia. They took all Russian money. They blocked the SWIFT, making it impossible or terribly hard for Russia to use even the little money it has. A nuclear bomb -- make it a large hydrogen bomb, could have been dropped anywhere on 90% of Russian territory and caused less damage. A smaller bomb, like Hiroshima, could have been anywhere on 99% of the land.
At this point, faced dissent at home, soldiers that lay down arms and lose the war in front of an army are perceived to be much weaker, Putin may find himself entitled to use nuclear bombs.
Against Who? A Russian bomb falling on Kyiv could be too much, even for Putin. After all, Ukraine only resisted, but didn't hit Russia on its home turf. Europe and the US, however did. He wouldn't be likely to hit Eastern Europe either. That was part of Russia, and might be his again.
War is not made only with guns. Europe did expand on Putin's Soviet land. And the Swift move cause very much harm. Private Russian property was also targeted.
In Putin's world, in Europe, Germany is the leading power. Thus, should the nukes fly, it may the the leading target.
A nuclear attack would probably be suicidal for Putin, and, perhaps, Russia. Thus, he'd try to strike simultaneously, as many targets as possible. He'd hit most likely, large cities. He'd hit Western Europe, most likely, Germany, but not only.
Russia has strong recollection of their fight against Nazi Germany, so he may even get a little bit of popular support for such a wild, suicidal move.
We did cripple their economy. Now all they have is bombs. And no way out of the pointless war they started. Or, maybe, there was a point -- to incite a war with Germany and justify the bombing?
Let's hope none of these happen.
Slava Ukraine!
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