When Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, he claimed it was for “denazification and disarmament,” despite the facts that President Zelenskyy is Jewish and Ukraine has never posed a threat to East or West, at least since it gave up its nuclear stockpile during the collapse of the USSR (it was the 3rd largest at the time and came with mutual security assurances from Moscow).

Given the historic precedent, the 2014 invasion of Crimea and Ukraine’s subsequent—and necessary—desire to join NATO, the West should have had the unity and wherewithal to impose a “No Fly Zone” over Ukraine from the very beginning of the assault. This would have prevented civilian casualties and ground the Russian advances to a halt, which would have triggered mass-protests in Russia and promoted the permanent ouster of Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine has always been the breadbasket of Europe, like Kansas, hence their beautiful flag.

Boundless fields of wheat in the east of Ukraine.Zelenyi Hai, Ukraine. @polina_art

My Polish family was thrown out of their homes and imprisoned in Gulags by their Soviet neighbors during WW2. They barely survived, fighting off Siberian winters, medieval diseases and burning more calories through forced labor than they consumed… How could a Slav do this to another? Today the same is happening in Ukraine… Putin is a blood-thirsty villain, bent on rewriting history through brute force. Even the Russian people don’t want this.

My grandfather’s family [Wypijewski] received Virtuti Militari (Purple Heart for fighting Russians in WW1) and then were given farmland in Lviv. Communists did not like educated, wealthy people with links to government and military, so they burned down their home, executed the parents and sent the kids to a Gulag. My grandmother’s grandfather [Solstys] came to USA in 1860. After working for 20 years in New York, he returned to buy farmland in Lviv which made them landlords/gentry. The Soviets did not like this either when they came in, so they kicked them out of  a home, put in a Ukrainian family, and sent them to Gulag without executions

For anyone fearful of Russia’s might, I will remind them that Russia’s GDP is smaller than the States of Texas, New York or New Jersey, as well as the country of Netherlands. How did such an economic backwater singlehandedly intimidate the world’s strongest economies and alliance, which still account for over 40% of global trade?

@create4eyes

The fact is that Putin is a mad dog who is currently moving nuclear ICBMs (with 10 reentry vehicles, capable of flattening 10 different European or American cities with a single shot) from the border of China to the border of Europe. Separately, the entire European economy would crash and many people would die from cold if Russia cut off all gas supplies due to a European and American military response. This puts the continent in a strategic bind, which it dug out for itself by appeasing Russia for so many years–mainly through Berlin.

A highway along the Dnipro river. Kyiv, Ukraine @moonwaster

Fortunately, Eastern Europeans are brave people, long ignored by their Western European neighbors. Lithuanian, Latvian, Polish, Estonian, Ukranian, Slovak, etc. have suffered much in the past and are not disillusioned by these current developments.

Kyiv, Ukraine @valik_chern

To my surprise, the “headless NATO” that President Macron coined during the Trump administration, has suddenly morphed into “Othros”, the Greek two-headed dog capable of tackling any enemy.

Hor’koho St, 41, Berdians’k, Zaporiz’ka oblast, Ukraine, 7110 @alekskhom

Personally, I have seen many promising signs today that would have never happened during Cold War out of fear of escalation in Eastern or Norther Europe:

• A commercial boat full of brand-new cars intended for delivery to St Petersburg was intercepted by Norwegian frigate (can’t remember last time Norway, Denmark or Finland did such a thing due to “strategic buffering with Russia”, and now they all want to join NATO).
• Poland has formed a “Land Corridor” ferrying allied weapons and medical supplies and volunteers into Ukraine

• Most importantly, Hungary, Germany, Italy and Spain finally decided to align themselves with the rest of the West by agreeing to kick Russia out of SWIFT and finally send lethal weapons to Ukraine.

Despite this, the Russian advances from North, East and South will continue…

Putin has saved up a vast amount of gold reserves from oil sales to EU and China during his 22 years in power; he can protect Oligarchs and Industry leaders close to Kremlin in case of a large, semi-prolonged conflict, such as is currently taking place. Banning them from SWIFT won’t sting them right away, but pain will be felt across the country for decades to come. I still feel for the average Russian who never wanted this to happen, but will live the consequences for the rest of their lives.

Unfortunately, this apprehension has not occurred within the Russian leadership (Putin likes to surround himself with “Yes” men). In light of this internal weakness, the West needs to do everything possible to prevent Kiev from being overrun and prevent Russian troops from crossing the Dnepr River. This would provide Ukraine with enough territory to keep fighting and eventually negotiate a ceasefire or retake its land after global sanctions start to bite hard on Russia.

Khortitsa, Zaporizhzhia, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine Maksym Tymchyk Available for hire

Unfortunately, at this point, a failed military campaign might be what is necessary to get Putin out of power.

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The National Bank of Ukraine Opens Special Account to Raise Funds for Ukraine’s Armed Forces ???????? You can now donate directly to the Armed Forces of Ukraine via the National Bank of Ukraine instead of relying on 3rd party organizations. Click the link here.

The Ukraine central bank’s decision followed the Ukrainian government imposing martial law throughout Ukraine in response to armed aggression by Russia and the renewed threat to Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity. NBU Governor Kyrylo Shevchenko announced the opening of this special account in his 24 February video address. The number of the special account: UA843000010000000047330992708.

This account accepts multiple currencies. It has been established and opened to receive transfers from international partners and donors in both foreign currency (U.S. dollars, euros, UK pounds) and hryvnias.
Support the Armed Forces of Ukraine!” ???????? #славаукраїні #glorytoukraine ????????

Jean De Dalmas was born to French and Polish parents in New York City. He attended Lycée Français de New York  for high school, where he fell in love with European history and geopolitics. He studied economics, computer science, and Slavic languages both at NYU and Vassar and spent 6 months abroad in Krakow, Poland,  where he attended Jagiellonian University which solidified his understanding of post Cold War Eastern Europe. Post-undergrad, he worked for SFM where he further honed his understanding of technology and macroeconomics in an increasingly globalized world that was getting hotter and more kinetic. Currently, he is a senior developer at another firm in the financial industry with a continued passion to promote Open Societies throughout the world.