Ukraine 10:
Heads I Win, Tails You Lose
This week, on the eve of the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, U.S. statesmen offered “crushing economic sanctions” against Russia instead of the desperately needed military aid they have long promised Ukraine. Today, the only victories American leaders can confidently claim are those of the BlackRock financial cartel and the military industrial complex. In the “heads I win, tails you lose” world of monopoly capitalism, they will win no matter the war’s outcome. CNN’s Anna Cooban said it best, “Western defense companies have been riding high since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago and a proliferation of geopolitical threats is likely to keep the industry booming despite doubts about further US military aid for Kyiv.”
On February 22, while trying to rally the faithful at the Washington establishment’s premier think tank, The Center for Strategic and International Studies, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland finally said the quiet part out loud: “And by the way, most of the support we are providing actually goes right back into the U.S. economy and defense industrial base, helping to modernize and scale our own vital defense infrastructure while creating American jobs and economic growth. In fact, the first 75 billion dollar package created good-paying American jobs in at least 40 states across the United States, and 90 percent of this next request will do the same.”
While Nuland’s words were received with polite applause in Washington, Nug, my British associate who has been in Ukraine since the start of the war, had a very different view. “‘Money for Ukraine’ should be amended to read ‘Money for the Military Industrial Complex.’ The U.S. sends old, out of date crap,” he wrote. “Ukraine buys it—it’s not free—then the U.S. pays the Military Industrial Complex top dollar to replace what they just sold to Ukraine.”
Worse than Victoria Nuland’s exaltation of greed is her total indifference to the human cost of this brutal war of attrition that has left hundreds of thousands dead or permanently injured. Last weekend, after a long battle that left approximately 17,000 Russians and 6000 Ukrainians dead, Russian soldiers raised their flag over Avdiivka, a city Ukraine had held since 2014.
Not only was this Russia’s biggest territorial gain since the fall of Bakhmut in May 2023, but it was also an extremely poor showing for Ukraine’s new military leader Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi.
While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the decision to pull Ukrainian troops out of Avdiivka was made to “save Ukrainian soldiers lives,” according to Nug, “There was zero planning, just every man for himself. Hundreds were left behind including the injured, many of whom were lined up and shot.” Ivan Zhytnyk, a member of Ukraine’s 110th Brigade, had been fighting in Avdiivka for almost two years. After he was severely wounded on the battlefield, Zhytnyk waited a day and a half to be evacuated. When he realized that nobody was coming, he made a final phone call to his sister, Kateryna: “Everyone left, everyone retreated. They told us that a car would pick us up. I have two broken legs, shrapnel in my back. I can’t do anything.” A day or so later, when the Russian military posted video footage of dead Ukrainian soldiers near Avdiivka, Kateryna recognized her dead brother by his clothing and water bottle.
“We wouldn’t [have lost] Avdiivka if we had all the artillery ammunition that we needed to defend it. Russia does not intend to pause or withdraw. Once Avdiivka is under their control, they undoubtedly will choose another city and begin to storm it,” said Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba. “And I respect domestic politics and will not interfere into it, but I just want everyone to remember that every day of debate in one place means another death in another place.”
“Now a lot of finger pointing is going on,” said Nug. “The rumors and whispers of a coup are now openly spoken of with anger. Russia’s next axis of attack is Kramatorsk and Slovyansk. They’ve already pushed to the river in the north and cut off supply lines. Once they achieve that, they’ll cross from the north and it’s game over.”
This weekend, western leaders are in Kiev patting each other on the backs for their “solidarity” with the wartorn nation as their front line continues to collapse. Peter Fouche, a South African medic and founder of Project Konstantin, has been serving on the frontlines since March 2022. He put it much more bluntly: “I’m talking to all western governments today. I’m a medic in Ukraine and we are shitting ourselves over here. The fucking frontline is crumbling left, right and center. How dare you dilly and dally like this! Imagine these were your children being butchered out here. Put yourself in Ukrainian shoes for once. Get your act together, man! Your policies and your bullshit! Fucking support this country, we are being terminated and exterminated.” (See Fouche’s video plea for western military support below.)
Since the war began two years ago, The New York Times estimates that approximately 70,000 have died fighting and another 120,000 have been severely injured. Between 2014–2021, Ukraine’s population dropped from 45 million to 41 million. As of December 2023, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has registered almost six million Ukrainian refugees in Europe, and another 400,000 outside Europe.“‘Never Again’ has been the slogan. But now it looks like it does not mean anything,” said Ukraine’s President Zelensky in 2022. “A people is being destroyed in Europe.”
Read my previous Ukraine articles on Sour Milk:
Ukraine 1 (1/27/2022)
Ukraine 2 (2/4/2022)
Ukraine 3 (2/18/2022)
Ukraine 4 (3/1/2022)
Ukraine 5 (3/19/2022)
Ukraine 6 (4/17/2022)
Ukraine 7 (8/4/2022)
Ukraine 8 (4/16/2023)
Ukraine 9 (1/14/2024)