Putin Revives Soviet Sentiment, Calls Ukrainians ‘Our Comrades’
February 22, 2022—Despite nearly non-stop diplomacy by all sides for over a month, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine late Monday night.
The announcement and troop movement came after Putin recognized the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent countries.
While many in the West expected a Russian invasion into Ukraine, Russian diplomats continued to deny such a possibility as late as last week during a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine.
The Security Council met again last night in an emergency session. Ironically, the council is under Russian leadership this month. Representative and representative condemned the announcements and actions by Russia. The reason is that the actions go against international law by violating Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Reactions
The European Union, individual countries within Europe, and the United States started reacting.
Today, Germany canceled the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Putin’s recognition of the two breakaway regions is a “serious violation” of international law.
“Now it’s up to the international community to react to this one-sided, incomprehensible and unjustified action by the Russian president,” Scholz said today, according to the AP and other outlets.
The Nord Stream 2 is a significant pipeline project that would bring gas from Russia to Germany. Up until now, Germany has been hesitant to stop the project.
In response to the decision, Russia’s former president and deputy chair of the Russian security council, Dmitry Medvedev, vowed that Europeans would pay more for natural gas, the AP reported.
Scholz, meanwhile, has actively engaged in diplomacy along with French President Emmanuel Macron and the Biden Administration in efforts to avert conflict in Ukraine.
Putin Addresses Nation
Meanwhile, Putin told a bold stance. After recognizing the two Ukrainian regions as independent states and ordering Russian troops into Ukraine, Putin addressed the nation. In striking language, Putin asserted ownership over the people of Ukraine.
“I would like to emphasize again that Ukraine is not just a neighboring country for us,” Putin said in his address. “It is an inalienable part of our own history, culture, and spiritual space. These are our comrades, those dearest to us – not only colleagues, friends, and people who once served together, but also relatives, people bound by blood, by family ties.”
Furthermore, Putin asserted that Ukraine is part of Russia.
“I will start with the fact that modern Ukraine was entirely created by Russia or, to be more precise, by Bolshevik, Communist Russia,” Putin said. “This process started practically right after the 1917 revolution, and Lenin and his associates did it in a way that was extremely harsh on Russia – by separating, severing what is historically Russian land.”
In an ominous foretelling of potential events yet to come, Putin said Russia is “ready to show what real decommunization would mean for Ukraine.”
Joint Statement By OSCE
In response, the OSCE, which has a special monitoring duty over Ukraine, issued a joint statement by its secretary generals and parliamentary assembly officials.
“This step is a breach of international law and fundamental OSCE principles and runs counter to the Minsk agreements,” said OSCE officials Zbigniew Rau, Helga Maria Schmid, and Margareta Cederfelt. “We call on Russia to immediately rescind this decision.”
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