Putin doesn’t care how many lives are lost in futile Ukraine campaign

ROSS EASTGATE

ONE of World War II’S enduring myths is that of Russia’s singular role in defeating Nazi Germany followed by the capture of its capital, Berlin.

Russia’s psychopathic dictator Joseph Stalin had scores to settle and people to eliminate for Hitler’s treacherous repudiation of the 1939 GermanSoviet Nonaggression Pact.

Never mind Stalin had already ruthlessly eliminated the senior Soviet military leadership and starved millions of USSR citizens, the German invasion of Russia beginning in June 1941 killed millions more on both sides.

Each May 9 Russia has commemorated its victory with massive parades through

Red Square, overseen by entrenched, humourless, senile, geriatric leaders as thousands of barely trained conscripts goose step past the saluting dais.

It has traditionally been an opportunity for Russia to showcase its latest technology while simultaneously reminding Russians if not the rest of the world how it single-handedly defeated the Nazi scourge. Sound familiar?

This time Russia has invaded Ukraine on the false basis it is doing so to rid Russian speaking Ukrainians of threats from emergent Nazi terrorists.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who arguably exhibits all the major traits of a postrevolutionary Russian president, seems to care not one bit how many Russian military personnel or Ukrainian civilians that invasion has cost so far and may cost into the indeterminable future.

Property and economic destruction add another horrific dimension.

This week’s victory commemorations in Red Square were a pale shadow of previous years, overshadowed by Russia’s appalling performance, militarily and morally, in Ukraine.

Putin, accompanied by a few token bemedalled World War II veterans, made no mention of Russia’s failures in Ukraine.

As quick as Russians are at claiming their glorious victories, they will have no one else to blame but themselves for a sustained, futile, costly campaign in Ukraine.