2024-07-17 11:55:12
Who is responsible for the war in Ukraine: Vladimir Putin and his government, or the Russian state and people? In terms of international law, the answer is clear. The order to attack the army was given by the President of Russia and he bears the main responsibility. But in the 26 months since that terrible decision, Ukrainians have thought hard about the answer to this question.
“Time” magazine writes that many Ukrainians now consider the weakness of the anti-war movement to be an indication of the Russian people’s complicity with Putin. The percentage of confidence in Putin in the country is also alarming. More than two years into the war, independent polls show that more than 80 percent of people support Putin. Even President Volodymyr Zelensky and his team have lost hope that anti-war protests will start among the people in Russia. They are no longer inclined to believe in the existence of “good” Russians.
One of the leading figures of the Russian opposition movement Mikhail Khodorkovsky he was once the richest man in Russia. He has dedicated his life to regime change in Russia and sees it as his mission to make Putin lose the war. Khodorkovsky spent 10 years in Russian prisons because he was in opposition to the Kremlin. From the comments on his social media accounts, he can see that Ukrainians hate him too. “This is hatred without end. “For many Ukrainians, I’m just another Russian attacking their country.”are the words of Khodorkovsky.
Most political dissidents…
Today, everyone accepts and expresses gratitude to the Russians who took up arms and fought with the Ukrainian army only inside Ukraine. There are at least two partisan units made up of Russians on the battlefields: the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Free Russian Legion. Both of them have carried out small but powerful raids on Russian territory in the past two years, using weapons and ammunition provided by the Ukrainian army.
However, many of Russia’s leading political dissidents do not support these groups and tactics. Many of them believe that the incursions into Russian territory provide a topic for Russian propaganda, thus helping Putin to gain popular support and recruit more troops to send to Ukraine.
Khodorkovsky helped found and now chairs the Russian Committee Against War in response to the attack on Ukraine. A committee of a group of dissidents and public figures meets regularly in Berlin to coordinate their activities. One of the main points in their manifesto is: “It is not the Russians who started the war, but the crazy dictator.”
President Zelensky agreed with this position in the first days of the war. In his historic speech addressed to the Russian people in Russian on the eve of the attack, he urged them not to believe in Putin’s excuses for starting the war. In the following days, the beginning of protests in Russia gave Zelensky hope that the war would end thanks to popular protests.
“That doesn’t mean…”
However, as a result of a wave of arrests and mass repression, the protests ended, and hopes disappeared. Ukrainian officials began to see the Russian people as partners in the war.
The Russian army committed one of its biggest atrocities in Ukraine in the town of Bucha near Kiev. In the words of Mykhailo Podoliak, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, this event “completely changed the emotional basis of the approach to Russia.” These changes affected the way many Ukrainians view Russian society. It is not only the representatives of the government, but also the opposition Alexei Navalny is also included.
When the war began, Navalny had been in prison for over a year. He immediately condemned the war in his statements and letters, calling it “a war built on lies.” He addressed Putin in the courtroom in May 2022 and said: “You will suffer a historic defeat in this foolish war you started. It has no purpose or meaning.”
However, these statements did not bring him much sympathy in Ukraine. Many have not forgotten Navalny’s earlier position on the annexation of Crimea. At the time, he refused to mention that Crimea should be returned to Ukrainian control. Navalny’s approach and ties to Russian nationalists at the start of his political career tarnished his reputation among Ukrainians.
A large part of Russian society is involved in the war. According to Khodorkovsky’s calculations, up to 300,000 Russian men have signed up to fight in Ukraine since the start of the offensive. He says that any government that comes to power after the end of Putin’s rule will have to accept the fact that these soldiers have the rights of Russian citizens. “We will have to feed these 300,000 people, pay them education and scholarships. They will still be members of our society. This does not mean that I agree with what they did in Ukraine.”– Khodorkovsky he says so.
Freedom radio