“For already more than a month, Ukraine has been repelling Russia’s large-scale offensive, comments on the Ukrainian version of the site of Radio Svoboda. The scenario of a victorious and rapid war in Moscow did not materialize, but there it is still said that everything is going according to plan. However, continues the media, in reality, “What losses did the Russian army suffer?” And therefore, “what to expect from the abuser?”
The tone in the Ukrainian media is becoming increasingly harsh with regard to Russia and its army. The country is at war, it is fighting for its survival, and so are its media. Assuming that the conflict finds a solution other than that decided by the fate of arms, it will probably take time before the Ukrainians reconnect with the Russians.
This is what President Volodymyr Zelensky confided in an interview granted to five Russian media, the distribution of which has been banned in Russia, and whose daily Oukraina Moloda echoes:
“After the Russian invasion, a very deep historical and cultural chasm has opened up between Ukrainians and Russians, which in all likelihood will not be possible to bridge in the years to come.”
“Up to 1,500 invaders per day”
The city of Mariupol in particular has become the symbol of the determination both of the Russian fighters to take it, razing it if necessary, and of their Ukrainian adversaries to defend it, as the daily newspaper of Lviv Vissoki Zamok.
“Our Mariupol has become a martyr city, a victim of the acts of Russian war criminals. The Ukrainian defenders of Mariupol courageously prevent the advance of the Russian occupiers. The city, by undergoing the strikes, gives the possibility to other small and large cities to organize their defense. […] Defenders of Mariupol are invincible Ukrainian fighters. The strength of their spirit and their will to hold on until the end strengthens our faith in our victory! The Russian fascists will be terribly punished.”
This manifest desire for revenge can be found even in the words of the members of the Ukrainian government. Phone the adviser to the presidency Mykhaïlo Podolyak who, on Twittercalls on Western partners to deliver “even more modern lethal weapons so that the Ukrainian army and resistance forces can destroy on Ukrainian lands up to 1,500 invaders a day”.
According to him, every day the Russians “lose between 510 and 530 men, proof of the extreme intensity of the fighting and the motivation of the Ukrainian forces”.
The danger of euphoria
It is certain that after almost five weeks of clashes, the Ukrainian army manages to score points against an enemy clearly superior in number and in armament.
And, says blogger, activist and entrepreneur Valeriy Pekar for Vissoki Zamok, “Many experts warn us not to rejoice too much in our victories and not to joke too much about the stupidity of our enemies, because that creates a very dangerous feeling of euphoria”.
“Our victories remain relatively modest, he concedes. The war will be long. And in the ranks of the enemy there are not only idiots and inexperienced and hungry recruits, but also well-equipped and professional units. Euphoria is dangerous because it deteriorates our view of reality.”
He is referring to the successes achieved in recent days locally by the Ukrainian army, whether in the vicinity of kyiv, with the recapture of Makariv and Irpin, in the vicinity of Kharkiv and Sumy, to the east, or further south towards Kherson. These victories have indeed galvanized the media and the population. Valery Pekar explains:
“Euphoria, it is true, is dangerous. We still have many terrible challenges ahead, complex and unknown challenges. The war could last a long time. Fooling yourself could prove deadly. Underestimating the enemy could be deadly.”
The end of the Ukrainian inferiority complex
“But I am all the same for celebrating our victories without restraint, and for making fun of the stupidity of our enemies”, nuance the blogger. Because in doing so, Ukraine got rid of its “inferiority complex”.
“This complex that has been imposed on us for three hundred and fifty years. He was deeply rooted. And it was destroyed in a month”.
Thanks to this, the country finds itself “immune to the Russian world. The more we celebrate even the smallest victories, the more examples we get of the enemy’s stupidity, the less we will wish to be like him”.