Against the backdrop of huge losses the Russian army is suffering on the battlefield and growing social tension in Russia, the Kremlin decided to somewhat adapt its tactics by calling up for military service Ukrainian men forcibly deported to Russia from the occupied territories. According to tentative estimates, at least 500,000 Ukrainian men have been deported. The State Duma is working on a law that would regulate mobilization of Ukrainians – even those who don’t hold a Russian passport. The move comes against the background of growing pessimism about the futility of the war with Ukraine while Putin wants to «let off public steam» by killing as many Ukrainians as possible.
This is pure genocide, which must be stopped.
Russian propaganda is now spinning the narratives of a «patriotic war» and the ones claiming that «the Western Nazis launched the ‘Barbarossa-2 Plan’ against Russia.»
To put it simply, a narrative about the threat to the very existence of the Russians is being implanted in their brains, aiming to explain why exactly they have to die in the war, which is bringing Russia no gains. A catastrophic mistake Putin made on February 24, 2022 essentially divided Russia’s genesis into «before» and «after»: now Putin has no choice but to fight «to the last Russian.» There are fewer and fewer Russians suitable for this, so the Kremlin decided to mobilize everyone they could: including forcibly deported Ukrainian men and migrant workers from Central Asia (the Investigative Committee is already working on regulating the process).
Even putting aside the tragedy of the potential fratricidal war, which Russia is de facto plotting by mobilizing Ukrainians to fight against their fellow citizens, this implies a «big war» in Europe, which is capable of becoming a systemic one. Putin seeks to change the existing world order and see Russian tanks on the streets of European cities: the large-scale reforms initiated in the Russian army are direct evidence testifying to such plans being in the works. And Russia will never stop until it is stopped by force: this is a historical truth. The most important thing is that Russia manifests the West as an existential foe for all Russians, inciting enmity in its citizens towards anything “Western.”
Considering the fact that Russian propaganda is a certain psychological phenomenon that has changed the worldview of 80% of Russians, it is safe to assume that Putin already has an army of loyal slaves who are proud of their status and are willing to die for their “tsar.” Russia is potentially capable of building an 8 million-strong army within about two years. And this is certainly a strategic challenge for the West, the one it hasn’t faced since World War 2. Russian tanks on the streets of European cities are as real in the medium term as their presence today in the cities of the Ukrainian Donbas.
All Putin needs is a bit more time. So the main task for the West must be to prevent Russia from adapting and launching mass arms production. In fact, Putin has no other option left than to keep sending more weapons into Ukraine. The hysterical response by Russian propaganda to the decision of the Western coalition to give Ukraine their tanks is an eloquent testimony proving this point.
It is possible to stop Russia only with high-quality and high-precision Western weapons deployed in the east of Ukraine, arming the country’s forces as much as possible, otherwise NATO will face a war with a nuclear despot who seeks to rule the whole world.