Fugitives from Putin’s insanity
On Sept. 28, I decided to call a friend of mine from Moscow.
A few days prior, Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered a so-called “partial mobilization.” My friend, who is about 50, had never served in the Russian army before, but, like most Russian university graduates, he received some military training about 30 years ago, and is officially an officer in the reserves. Nevertheless, his age, his three children, and lack of training in modern weaponry made him a very unlikely candidate for the draft.
My friend’s wife answered. She sounded as scared as she could possibly be. “He is not here anymore. Crossing the border, and I cannot tell you where; it’s unsafe. He cannot be reached until he buys a new SIM card at the place of destination. He will contact you then.”
The entire conversation — even for me, who was born and raised in the authoritarian U.S.S.R. — sounded unreal. My friend called me a day later, from Kazakhstan.
The total number of Russians fleeing “partial mobilization” is unknown, but about 260,000, mostly younger men, are estimated to have fled the country. The number keeps growing. Video footage at border crossings show the scope of the mass exodus, unseen since the time of the Russian civil war, some 100 years ago.
Nonetheless, tens of thousands have been drafted, sent to barracks, and are being prepared to be used as cannon fodder in the Ukrainian war, which Putin started against his neighbour. This war has been marked by war crimes, from shelling and bombing of peaceful Ukrainian cities to summary executions of civilians in territories occupied by Russian soldiers.
The recent annexation of about 20 per cent of Ukrainian territory, proclaimed by Putin and his cronies in the Kremlin, marks the apotheosis of Putin’s insanity. The Russian dictator is not only attempting to slice off a piece of his neighbour’s land, but is threatening to use “all means” to protect his new assets. It is clear that such a threat effectively means deploying a tactical nuclear weapon.
The Russian dictator, who, during his 20year rule has managed to turn the geographically largest country in the world into a very close analogy of the Nazi Germany, with no independent courts, jailed opposition leaders, sham elections and a puppet Parliament, has now chosen to raise the stakes.
This escalation creates major new challenges for the Western world. It should be now crystal clear that if Ukraine is defeated, Putin and his lieutenants will not stop. Ukraine will be devastated and Russian losses very high, but it would be very naïve to think that Putin, who is now trying to draft, by conservative estimates, close to one million men, will send these people home.
His rhetoric always included moving “NATO borders” back to where they were in 1997, so all of Eastern Europe will, most likely, be his new target.
It is now very critical for the Western world to do everything possible to boost Ukraine’s fighting potential. Failure to do so will inevitably lead to a much larger European war. Also, Ukraine’s application to join NATO should be given very serious consideration.
Considering the recent failures of the Russian army at Kharkiv and now at Lyman, a tactical nuclear weapon remains Putin’s last chance at reversing the tide. It is very crucial to send a clear message to Putin that such a course of action will lead to a devastating military response from the West that would cripple Russia’s remaining military potential.
The war in Ukraine has already created a refugee crisis on an unprecedented scale. So far, Western countries, including Canada, which has already accepted tens of thousands of Ukrainians, have managed it well.
It should be noted that those Russian men who chose to flee their country instead of participating in Putin’s criminal war do deserve protection on humanitarian grounds. Their choice not to kill should be greatly respected.