If Russia can dish it out then it must be able to take it

Russia’s defense ministry said last Friday that it will take revenge for Ukraine’s attack on its border town by intensifying its attack on Kyiv.

Because it took a while between the actual attack on that border town and the announcement by Russia, Ukrainians as well as foreign observers believe the announcement of revenge was actually spurred by the more recent sinking of their flagship, the Moskva, in the Black Sea.

It was last April 2 when helicopters attacked a fuel depot for Russian vehicles fighting in Ukraine. But aside from accusing Ukraine of sending those helicopters, Russia didn’t say anything about seeking revenge for it.

Who attacked the depot is still quite the juicy mystery since even Ukraine would not confirm the helicopters were theirs. If not, then whose was it? Was there a faction in Russia sympathetic to Ukraine that is operating there without their knowledge? Was the incident actually a blunder by Russian air force or artillery?

Then the Moskva goes down just before Holy Week. This time Ukraine says it was them that did it with Neptune anti-ship missiles. But Russia, perhaps too proud to admit that they were trounced, denied it saying it was actually an accidental fire on board the vessel that brought it down.

But anyway, now they want revenge for something that happened earlier this month that hurt only two people. And not for an attack that killed hundreds of their sailors.

Whether they want revenge for the depot attack or the sinking of a ship that might have been due to their own carelessness in the first place, it doesn’t matter anyway. Russia doesn’t have any right to complain if Ukrainians attack them.

In case Russia has forgotten, they are at war. They should expect strategic areas and assets to get attacked and people to get killed. In case they also forgot, Russia also started that war. They forced conflict upon another sovereign nation that did not want it.

What exactly does Russia expect Ukraine to do? Keep on taking hits without doing anything? Russia is like the schoolyard bully that keeps on punching the smaller kid but suddenly cries foul when the victim hits back.

For most of this war, Russia has been dishing it out the attacks, the violence, the death, and the destruction; it should also be able to take it.