Four months before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, I was in the heart of Odesa’s cultural center. Some gangly soldiers were standing on the corner with ill-fitted uniforms and shirts untucked, prompting my Ukrainian colleague to lament the country’s future if the government sent those warriors to battle.

We underestimated their will and courage. But so did the entire Western world, and more significantly, the Russians misjudged their resolve. Ukraine can win this war with the funding and proper military equipment. Indeed, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is illegitimate. Therefore, the West must help destroy its military assets and dispel its propaganda — that Ukraine is a natural extension of Russia.

“There will be massive upheaval in Russia if it loses in Ukraine,” said Bill Browder, founder of Hermitage Capital Management — once Russia’s most extensive portfolio investor. “It could likely precipitate the fall of Vladimir Putin,” who has reigned over Russia for 23 years. “It’s not clear that he has ever had popular support. He governs by intimidation.”

Browder was expelled from Russia in 2005 because he had exposed government corruption. “Then they chased me around the world with Interpol arrest warrants.” That is ironic because Putin now faces the same issues: The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for him for, allegedly, the unlawful deportation of children.

Putin is old school, trained as a KGB agent before becoming former president Boris Yeltsin’s hand-picked successor in May 2000. At the time, the world community thought Putin might continue in Yeltin’s footsteps, accelerating the move to democracy. But little did global leaders know that he would come to resemble Joseph Stalin.

Putin glorifies the Soviet Union. He is heartsick over its collapse. But he suffers from a delusion of grandeur, thinking that only he can resurrect this archaic dinosaur. The Kuyalnik resort symbolizes the ruination — a former Soviet retreat outside Odesa: It’s now dilapidated, looking like the Titanic at the bottom of the sea.

While Putin and the Russian oligarchs live in luxury, the average Russian makes about $15,000 yearly. And while its city centers are splendid, the schools and hospitals are depleted outside of urban areas.

“It is necessary to convince society that your culture is extraordinary and it is under threat. Then emotions will take over,” said Jason Stanley, a philosopher and professor at Yale University, in an interview with Babel. “Uncertainty about the future and a weak economy will only help. You will feel that you have nothing but a national identity. Russians are poor, they have nothing but the feeling of being Russian — and they are ready to die for it because there is nothing else.”

However, only Russian ultra-nationalists support this war. Russian conscripts are discouraged and unmotivated. Yet, Putin doesn’t think the West has staying power, enabling his armed forces to keep up the fight and defeat Ukraine’s military. The aim is to destroy its democratically elected government and re-install a Russian loyalist.

But Putin underestimates the power of democracy, believing diversity and free thought undercut governance. Ukraine will never relent, following the lead of the rest of the former Soviet bloc.

Therefore, Putin will settle for keeping occupied territory in eastern Ukraine — something Ukrainian citizens resist. Their goal is for Russia to turn around and go home. To succeed, though, they need modern weaponry, especially fighter jets. The United States has blessed Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands, giving Ukraine 70 aircraft.

Moreover, the United States has provided $75 billion to Ukraine in military and humanitarian aid — a fraction of its total economic output. Ukraine’s neighbors contribute more per capita. What’s needed most of all is a commitment to the cause– to allow Ukraine to remain sovereign and show Russia it can’t win. History has already spoken: The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, ending the Cold War.

Ukraine’s fight for freedom gives it superhuman strength — empowering it to exceed all expectations.

Ken Silverstein has covered energy and the environment for years. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.

Newsletter