Flirting with the most powerful
countries, Putin has managed to lull the world’s attention to the danger he now represents. He has spent
considerable resources on improving his image and on an unconventional war, one
in which information is the weapon of choice. International businessmen,
looking for access to the Russian market and its plentiful natural resources
have lobbied their governments to turn a blind eye to gross violations of human
rights and a domestic policy that exacerbates ethnic tensions. They did not
recognize the imperial revanchism that has been influencing Russia’s elites and directing their
foreign and domestic policy.
Until today.
Svoboda, the political party that
I lead, bases its policies with Russia on the uneasy historical relationship
Ukraine has had with this imperial power. The Russian worldview is shaped by a
myth that identifies Ukraine as a Russian cradle. For this reason, Russian
imperialists have failed to regard our country as a truly sovereign nation.
These imperialistic inclinations have always been a threat to the Ukrainian
state.
Historically, Ukrainians have
rejected foreign domination.
During World War II, Ukrainian nationalists fought
against German Nazism and Stalin’s
Soviet Union. And they were not alone: within the ranks of the Ukrainian
Insurgent Army, Ukrainians fought alongside other oppressed nationalities
including Georgians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Tatars, Uzbeks, Chuvash and Jews.
These people, united by their common commitment to freedom, embraced the
Ukrainian nationalist slogan “Freedom
for Nations, Freedom for Individuals.”
Yet,
the desire to overthrow the yoke of occupation did not go unanswered.
Ukrainians were hunted by NKVD troops for more than 10 years after the official
end of the war. Even earlier, following the mass rebellion of Ukrainian
peasants against Soviet collectivization, communists inflicted a genocide on
Ukrainians in 1932-33, known as the Holodomor. Russian imperialists spared no
effort to conceal this truth and slander the anti-imperial liberation movements
in Ukraine.
Putin’s nostalgia for the past is well known. In his view, the
greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century was the collapse of the
Soviet Union. Ukraine is the largest and most important “jewel in the crown”
of the Russian Empire and today’s
military aggression—even
at the cost of international isolation and huge economic losses—is worth it for Putin.
Ukrainians are enormously grateful
for the almost unanimous international support. I am humbled by the worldwide
solidarity with the people of Ukraine during the most difficult times of the
EuroMaidan protests, and even more so now in the face of abject Russian
military aggression.
The actions of Putin’s Russia have shaken the world
to wake up and wonder at this harsh reality: in the 21st century, there is a
huge country, a member of the UN Security Council that influences defining
issues of international relations, and is simultaneously a brutal aggressor
that considers the world a space of spheres of influence and uses frozen
conflict zones like trump cards. Russia today is engaged in a cynical struggle
for territory in which any means are justified — outright lies, blackmail, manipulation of the press and so
on.
It is time for the civilized world
to call a spade a spade. Section 2656f(d) of Title 22 of the United States Code
defines a state sponsor of terrorism and Putin’s Russia clearly fits the bill. The United States has the
legal right to impose serious sanctions and western powers will likely reorient
the manner in which they do business, if America leads the way. The list of
four countries recognized as state sponsors of terrorism, namely, Cuba, Iran,
Sudan and Syria should now include the Russian Federation.
Obviously, Russia is not
homogenous. Despite a rise in Putin’s
ratings following the invasion of Crimea, not all Russians suffer from this
imperial disease. In March, a series of rallies in major Russian cities proved
this beyond a doubt especially when citizens of the Russian Federation cheered “Glory to Ukraine!” in Moscow. For many, the
annexation of Crimea is not simply a form of external aggression. It has forced
citizens to make a choice: capitulate their individuality and become complicit
in state crimes, or stand and oppose the system.
A kleptocracy has festered for some
time in Ukraine, corrupting our politics and economy. Two years into his
presidency, Mr. Yanukovych usurped political power changing our constitution by
unconstitutional means moving Ukraine toward a dictatorship and effectively
became a marionette of Putin’s
special forces. The heads of Ukraine’s
security forces and the military were staffed by Russian loyalists. They turned
the State Security Service into an instrument of terror. They systematically
bled the Armed Forces through funding cuts and the sale of military equipment
dishonoring the prestige of military officers. A machine of state control and
coercion over Ukrainian citizens was put in place, turning it into a police
state. Ethics, professionalism and patriotism, criteria normally employed for
recruits, were abandoned.
Naturally, this rendered Ukraine
weak. However, we were able to rapidly step up our military readiness thanks
not only to Ukrainian soldiers and volunteers, but also to the generous support
of everyday Ukrainians who made donations to satisfy the minimum needs of the
army.
Today, Russian commandos are
actively working in eastern Ukraine to undermine the presidential elections
scheduled for May 25 and to facilitate an invasion. In response, we have
initiated a number of antiterrorist measures to deter an outright invasion. So
far the Russian sponsored terrorist groups have largely been contained to the
regions of Luhansk and Donetsk. But other regions in the south and east remain
under serious threat.
Consequently, the international
community cannot shy away from its moral responsibilities. The Budapest
Memorandum was a commitment made by the United States, Great Britain and Russia
to guarantee Ukraine’s
security in exchange for voluntarily renouncing the world’s third largest nuclear
arsenal. The situation today is severe and time can not be wasted. Every
diplomatic, political, economic and military effort is needed. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine
threatens to destroy international peace and security, which could be followed
by an exponential proliferation of nuclear weapons.
The results of our efforts and
those of the international community will change the nature of geopolitics. But
in the worst case scenario, another large-scale war awaits the world.
Oleh
Tiahnybok is the leader of the Svoboda political party and candidate for
President of Ukraine
