Heather Cox Richardson is a historian who blogs regularly, putting current events into perspective. She does not mention here that Putin has clamped down on critics inside Russia. The independent media established after the fall of the USSR have been closed down, both broadcast and print. It is now illegal to report accurately what is happening. Government censors have warned all remaining media that they are not allowed to use the words “war,” “invasion,” or “aggression.” Putin’s deadly invasion must be referred to as “a special operation” to liberate and de-Nazify Ukraine. And, everything is going well there.
Russia’s war on Ukraine continues.
If the broader patterns of war apply, Russian president Vladimir Putin is making the war as senselessly brutal as possible, likely hoping to force Ukraine to give in quickly before global sanctions completely crush Russia and the return of warm weather eases Europe’s need for Russian oil and gas.
Russian shelling has created a humanitarian crisis in urban areas, and last night, a brief ceasefire designed to let residents of Mariupol and Volnovakha escape the cities through “humanitarian corridors” broke down as Russian troops resumed firing, forcing the people back to shelter. This morning, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to more than 280 members of the U.S. Congress to describe Ukraine’s “urgent need” for more support, both military and humanitarian.
Today, Putin said that the continued resistance of President Zelensky and his government threatens Ukraine’s existence. He also said that the sanctions imposed against Russia, Russian companies, Russian oligarchs and their families, and himself by the global alliance arrayed against him are “akin to a declaration of war.” (Remember, saying things doesn’t make them so; words are often a posture.)
The global economic pressure on Russia and the Russian oligarchs is already crushing the Russian economy—today Mastercard and Visa suspended operations in the country—while other countries’ refusal to sell airplane parts, for example, will soon render Russian planes useless, a major crisis for a country the size of Russia. Meanwhile, support is pouring into Ukraine: aside from the military support coming, yesterday the World Bank said it was preparing ways to transfer immediate financial support.
There are suggestions, too, among those who study military strategy that the Russian invasion has been far weaker than they expected. The Russian forces on paper are significantly stronger than those of Ukraine, and by now they should have established control of the airspace. Ground forces are also not moving as efficiently as it seems they should be.
Today, Phillips P. O’Brien, Professor of Strategic Studies at University of St Andrews, outlined how the Russian military, so impressive on paper, might in fact have continued the terrible logistics problems of the Soviet Union. On the ground, they appear to have too few trucks, too little tire maintenance, out-of-date food, and too little fuel. In the air, they are showing signs that they cannot plan or execute complicated maneuvers, in which they have had little practice.
Russia expert Tom Nichols appeared to agree, tweeting: “Ukrainian resistance has been amazing, but I am astonished—despite already low expectations—at how utter Russian military incompetence has made a giant clusterf**k out of an invasion against a much weaker neighbor.”
Meanwhile, Russians are now aware that they are at war—something that Putin had apparently hidden at first—and a number are protesting. The government has cracked down on critics, and rumors are flying that Putin is about to declare martial law. It appears he is already turning to mercenaries to fight his war. The U.S. government has urged all Americans to leave Russia.
And so, time is a key factor in this war: will Russian forces pound Ukraine into submission before their own country can no longer support a war effort?
Closer to home, the Russian war on Ukraine has created a crisis for the Republican Party here in the U.S.
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post reported on Thursday that after Trump won the 2016 election and we learned that Russia had interfered to help him, Republicans’ approval of Putin jumped from about 14% to 37%.
In the Des Moines Register today, columnist Rekha Basu explained how the American right then swung behind Putin because they saw him as a moral crusader, defending religion and “traditional values,” from modern secularism and “decadence,” using a strong hand to silence those who would, for example, defend LGBTQ rights.
Now, popular support has swung strongly against the Russian leader—even among Republicans, 61% of whom now strongly dislike the man. This is widening the split in the Republican Party between Trump supporters and those who would like to move the party away from the former president.
In a tweet today, Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) referred to the “Putin wing” of the Republican Party when she shared a video clip of Douglas Macgregor, whom Trump nominated for ambassador to Germany and then appointed as senior advisor to the Secretary of Defense, telling a Fox News Channel host that Russian forces have been “too gentle” and “I don’t see anything heroic” about Zelensky.
Possibly eager to show their participation in Ukraine’s defense, when Zelensky spoke to Congress this morning, two Republican senators—Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Steve Daines (R-MT)—shared screenshots of his Zoom call while it was going on, despite the explicit request of Ukraine’s ambassador not to share details of the meeting until it was over, out of concern for Zelensky’s safety.
In an appearance on Newsmax, Trump’s secretary of state John Bolton pushed back when the host suggested that the Trump administration was “pretty tough on Russia, in a lot of ways.” Bolton said that Trump “barely knew where Ukraine was” and repeatedly complained about Russian sanctions. Bolton said Trump should have sanctioned the Nord Stream 2 pipeline between Russia and Germany, rather than letting it proceed, and concluded: “It’s just not accurate to say that Trump’s behavior somehow deterred the Russians.”
My addendum: I don’t see a change in the polls about Republican views of Putin in the numbers presented here. After Trump showed his admiration for Putin, Republican approval of the tyrant rose to 37%. After Putin invaded Ukraine, 61% of Republicans strongly disliked him. So what % of Republicans still approve of him? Not clear.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
There is an ongoing investigation between certain news outlets and Russian influence. Two days ago a former Fox News department head, Jack Hanick, was indicted for helping an oligarch start a pro-Putin TV channel in Russia. Perhaps more investigation will result in more ties between conservative media and Russia. https://www.businessinsider.com/fox-news-director-indictment-russia-oligarch-tv-channel-tsargrad-2022-3
I sincerely hope the military conflict is contained to Ukraine. If our troops get involved, I have confidence that our people are totally “mission ready,” but an all out war would be horrible that could threaten the entire planet. Nobody will win in those circumstances.
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Insight into Hanick can be gained from the OpenDemocracy.net site, 6-4-2017, “Inside the Global Pro-Family Movement.”
A fuller picture can be seen with a follow-up reading of Wikipedia’s entry for Brian S. Brown.
Hanick is Orthodox Christian, was baptized in the Serbian Orthodox Church in 2016 at the Moscow State University. (Serbian Orthodox Church announcement)
Unfortunately, the deranged who populate the end- of- times sects seek vindication through the war you describe.
FDR once said, the “only thing to fear is fear itself.”
Putin started WWIII when he viciously, barbarically invaded Ukraine, and continued hesitation on the part of the NATO alliance will only make that war worse. Providing weapons so the Ukrainians may continue to fight and resist is not enough to stop Putin.
There are only two options that will stop this war from becoming worse, much worse!
ONE: Putin is removed from power by other powerful Russians, and at the same time all Russian troops are removed from all of Ukraine, ALL of that country including the two areas Putin sliced off a few years ago. After Putin is yanked from power, the Russians that did it, execute him probably at the same time.
TWO: The NATO alliance declares war and sends NATOs combined military might across all borders shared with Russia, including Turkey invading Georgia and liberating that country from Putin’s terror.
If fear of a nuclear Armageddon is holding the west back, then that reluctance will, for sure, lead to a nuclear Armageddon as long as Putin is alive and holds power.
Macgregor‘s “too gentle” comment was truly disgusting.
Much is being made in the press of the poor showing of the Russian military in this brutal aggression. And, depending on whether the writer is a member of the international force of Russian assets and trolls or a decent human appalled by Putin’s murderous attack, the blame is laid upon a “peacekeeper’s” desire to minimize civilian casualties or on incompetence, poor planning, antiquated equipment, long supply lines, a united civilian resistance, lack of will to fight on the part of the aggressor, and other causes. But as with so many issues, the answer here is all of the above. The minimize civilian casualties bit is Orwellian because the fact that there are any civilian casualties at all–and need I remind you that by this we mean babies and toddlers and grandmothers blown to pieces–is entirely a matter of a decision that Putin made to commit mass murder. But the answer to why is this going so poorly is All of the Above and More.
If there is anything that the world should have learned from Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, it is this: we are long, long, long past the time when wars were winnable, when one faction could prevail on the basis of having adopted the stirrup or the long bow. At this time, any force, just about, can be progressively ratcheted up toward the obscene final solution of total war and obliteration. And anything short of that will fail–will just devolve into prolonged insurgency and terrorism and rivers of blood. All victories will be pyrrhic. Bush’s standing on that ship under the “Mission Accomplished” sign is the iconic representation of the idiocy of the notion of “winning” a modern war. A former head of British intelligence once commented that Bush’s war simply watered and fertilized the little seeds of terrorism.
It’s time we learned this lesson and that the United Nations step up to say, no more. If a nation does not respect the territorial integrity of a member state and/or if it goes into the business of murdering civilians, the U.N. as a body will step in with overwhelming force to stop it. There is a mechanism for the U.N. General Assembly to act in this regard when the Security Council fails to do so–a “Uniting for Peace Resolution.”
For those of you who were gushing about Winter on Fire (which I watched in full), I challenge you to watch Oliver Stone’s Ukraine on Fire (available on Prime Video) for the other side of the story. I’m not asking you to believe it, just watch it. Understand that both videos are propaganda with an agenda. Ask yourself how you know what is really true? Where have you gotten your truth and what is the agenda of that/those entity/entities?
None of us on this blog knew beans about Ukraine a month ago, so it’s madness for us to pretend that we are experts. All any of us can do is to look to as many sources as we can (including and especially sources we don’t agree with), evaluate the agendas and trustworthiness of each, and try to piece together a narrative that makes sense. Because no matter what the truth is, the idea that Putin – who has led Russia through 5 U.S. presidents and counting – is some kind of irrational raging madman – does not make sense.
I agree on one point: Putin is not a madman. He is a rational, calculating tyrant. He is murdering thousands of innocent men, women, and children every day, and the world watches. What’s astonishing to me is to encounter Putin sympathizers. Yes, I have read histories of Russia, of Stalin, of Communism, and of Ukraine.
Dienne, you seem to know very little beyond your hatred of the US. Why don’t you start by reading the incredibly informative “The Black Book of Communism,” by French historians. Mao was a tragedy for the Chinese people. Stalin was a tragedy for the Russian people and the people of the Soviet empire. Putin is a tragedy for Russia and Ukraine.
Putin has made evident to the world that his biggest lies result in the murder of children. Wearing the cross of Orthodox Christianity, Putin amassed a force to invade Ukraine while simultaneously denying his intent.
77- I’ll help you with a direction for your argument. Putin is like some “Americans in Name Only”. In 2013, Pat Buchanan called Putin, “One of Us.” And, on 2-22-2022, he wrote, “Did we provoke Putin’s war in Ukraine?” When Buchanan speaks of “we” and “us”, we know there are those within the U.S. who are championing Putin.
Thanks, was meaning to watch this.
Oliver Stone’s son, Sean Stone, reportedly worked for RT since 2015. May have left in 2022.
Putin closed RT a few days ago. No one works there anymore.
“Leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church are agents of Russian state power before they are church men… They have bathed Putin in sycophancy for years.” The guy who wrote the preceding also wrote, the big lies by certain Fox personalities and certain Catholic websites that should be rejected include (1) “This entire situation is the West’s fault.” (2) “NATO poses a threat to Russian National Security” (3) “Russia has a ‘right’ to a ‘sphere of influence’ around itself. (4) “This is none of our business” (5) “We should focus attention on China, which is the major threat to American interests.” (Catholic World Report, 2-24-2022) After the Ukraine invasion, there’s a lot of pivoting by Trump supporters from the religious right to distance themselves from Putin. Trump had NATO in his crosshairs.
It has been widely reported that Trump said he would withdraw the U.S. from NATO in his second term.
He did not like Germany, France, the UK, and other allies.
He preferred Putin, Xi of China, and the dictator of North Korea.
Do you mean “Catholic” websites like Life Site News?
Uncle Albert’s Nephew
Thanks for reading what I wrote.
The CPR article written by an EPPC guy didn’t identify the sites.
He took a step farther than many writers who obfuscate for the church. He wrote the word, Catholic.
A faculty member, Thomas Zimmer at Georgetown Catholic University, posted an article at Guardian, “America’s Culture War is Spilling into Actual War War.” Almost every quote he cited was from a Catholic, including Pat Buchanan but, (1) all identification was instead of the Christian national labeling.
I inferred from the article that the veneer was liberal while the blame for the “culture war” (Pat Buchanan’s framing) was those among the woke who had forced backlash. I see a pattern associated with the promoters of the “culture war” narrative, they attempt (2) to create distance between right wing Catholic political plotting and wins for theocracy like school choice laws and legislation that enables Catholic (religious) organizations as employers to avoid civil rights employment law (Biel v. St. James Catholic school) and, item (1) above.
The recent Georgetown Catholic University hiring of Ilya Shapiro (Koch) helps to inform all of us of the goals of the alliance of the powerful conservative Catholic sect and its concubine, evangelical protestants. The fact that taxpayers have made Catholic organizations the U.S.’ third largest employer should be of grave concern.
“…61% of whom now strongly dislike the man.” Are you joking? Only 61 percent of Republicans can bring themselves to strongly dislike a man who has directed the invasion of a sovereign nation? What percent of either party did not strongly dislike Stalin in 1950? What percent of either party did not strongly dislike Hitler? This is insane.
I wish Liz Cheney had called out her father during his bellicose days as VP.
Then there are the pro-Putin demonstrations in Belgrade. A participant called Putin a supporter of the Orthodox Church and voiced support for this approach to political strength. And Jesus Wept.
The GOP used to be different.
Putin is anti-gay and embraces much of the right wing agenda of many Republicans whose claim to caring about human life means exclusively about controlling women’s bodies (even if it means that woman dies, because to some Republicans, life only matters when professing to care about can be used as a talking point).
Republicans care about life for the unborn, not the born.
Putin doesn’t care about any life it his own.
Republican politicians care about getting elected and getting funding.
While in power, the state’s residents don’t matter to them. ALEC’s agenda does.
The Idiot Former Guy and Loser Donald Trump just gave a speech in which he said that the United States should paint Chinese labels on fighters, bomb Russia, and then watch China and Russia fight it out. Right. As though China would think a bunch of F15s, F16, and F22s were Chinese. But, ofc, this is the same guy who thought we should send astronauts to the moon and that stealth airplanes were actually invisible. A profoundly ignorant moron. And for four years, a guy this clueless was president of the United States.
Predictably, as when he suggested that doctors should look into injecting people with disinfectant to fight Covid, he later claimed that this was a joke. But the joke (the extraordinarily bad joke) is the guy whom Putin worked so hard to put in charge in the U.S., Don the Con, who makes the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene look like a Rhodes Scholar in comparison.
Extraordinarily grateful that in the current crisis, this Putin asset and moron is not still president.
Evidently, someone just explained to Donald what a false flag operation is. So now he’s an expert. “Nobody knows the cyber like Donald Trump,” this idiot once said. Now, nobody knows false flags like Donald Trump. People call him up, they say, “Sir. You got false flags like nobody. Obama ever have flags like that? But we got dumb people. Very dumb people.”
Curious to hear Vlad the Impaler of Truth claim that choosing to eschew Russian businesses is tantamount to a declaration of war. Does his asymmetric cyber-attack on our country and our elections over the past 10 years similarly constitute such a declaration? The world sees his paper tiger army and desperate wanton violence and understands it connotes failure and miscalculation.
Good parallel.
I love how Dienne is so sure that nobody on the blog knew “beans about Ukraine”. Just because she sequesters herself in an echo chamber…you know some of us actually know Ukrainians, love them, live with them, and could even be Ukrainian.
Such bitter vitriol and whatboutism in general from her/him.🙄