I’m pleasantly surprised as well. I thought Russia would go through Ukraine like a hot knife through butter.
As I thought about why this is happening, I came up with two possibilities:
- this is only Putin’s ego war. There is no clamor or popular support for his war from the regular Russian. And it’s looking more and more like even the soldiers’ hearts aren’t in it.
- the Ukrainians on the other hand have some serious skin in the game - their freedom and self determination and they’re showing both are very important to them - enough to put their lives on the line against great odds.
We still don’t know how all this is going to play out, but I’m totally rooting for Ukraine. If they win or even stalemate, it will be the end of Putin.
That would be a very happy ending, especially for all the other little countries Putin has in his sight.
I’ve summarized it as this:
The Russians thought Putin was leading them in a rise of Russian nationalism. Putin thought they wanted him to lead them in a rise of Soviet nationalism and return to the way things were. Neither was correct.
The GDP of every former satellite of the USSR that has allied with Europe has improved. Life has improved. Nobody is rushing back to join the Soviet Union.
The Ukranians want no part of returning to the fold of the Soviets.
I have said that Europe may have found their gonads in Ukraine. I hope the accounts of resistance are not just made up propaganda.