VIDEOS
1. Russia blitz on a Ukraine hospital killing a young Ukrainian doctor on his first day of work
The Sun
4.22M subscribers
Aug 2, 2023 5:00 p.m. EDT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7NbHsp0Tjk
A YOUNG Ukrainian doctor was killed on his first day of work when Russia blitzed a hospital in frontline southern Kherson. Dmytro Bilyi, 25, died instantly in a suspected mortar blast. A female nurse standing next to him was left with life-threatening injuries and at least four other medics were wounded.
The Sun witnessed the gruesome aftermath with blood marks across two floors of the Yevhen Karabelesh City Hospital. The mortar hit a first floor operating theatre which was empty at the time. Witnesses said Dr Bilyi, an ear nose and throat specialist, was standing a few yards away and suffered multiple fatal shrapnel wounds. It was his first full day of work after completing an internship. Devastated colleagues said he was “delighted when he went to work that day”. Staff at the Zaporizhia State Medical University, where he had studied sicne 2015, said: “He was very kind, cheerful, he won hearts, always smiling.
“Dmytro studied well, dreamed of becoming a qualified doctor, and was delighted when he went to work that day.” His pal Serhii Marusian said he had followed his mother’s footsteps into medicine.
2. Russia Plunders Crimea: Human Rights Activists Go to Jail Every Day
UATV English
398K subscribers
Aug 2, 2023 9:00 a.m. EDT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzjlFL5qDyM
Russian law enforcers demonstratively target Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars on the occupied peninsula. New cases of prison terms for imaginary crimes are announced daily. This report is about a group of Crimean Tatar activists repressed in Russian-occupied Crimea for allegedly ‘planning terrorist acts’ on the peninsula’s territory.
ARTICLE
Russia as an Antonym of Democracy
Ukrainska Pravda
Kostiantyn Rieutskyi - co-founder of the Vostok SOS NGO, soldier
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/columns/2023/07/29/7413214/
A warning for those who believe in the possibility of a democratic russia within imperial borders.
Many in the West still believe that a democratic russia can exist. They see russia as a like-minded and as a partner. Over the centuries, russia has consistently contradicted this notion with its actions, but dreamers remain unconvinced.
Let’s face the truth: a democratic russia is impossible.
The crux of the matter is that democracy would be a lethal dose of justice for an empire. And russia is an empire to the core. Where everything is based on lies and coercion. Russia cannot democratize without ceasing to be an empire, and therefore, would cease to be russia within the borders to which we are accustomed. Those who call for preserving the russia we know at all costs are, in fact, proposing to preserve all the injustice and lies it is based on. Essentially, they call for preserving the empire. An empire that declares war on the European civilization every time it has the strength to do so. Why again save those who seek to kill you?
The compromise-seekers are also mistaken. Compromises only benefit the empire. Limited democracy is not democracy. The experiences of the 1990s proved that a cautious democratization is just a respite for imperial forces. By investing too hesitantly in the “slow democratic progress of russia,” the West allowed new, even more stubborn imperialists to come to power. Now, the world is reaping the fruits of this approach, teetering on the edge of a precipice.
Don’t be deceived; you can’t make a wolf eat vegetables. Sure, decades of selection could significantly increase the proportion of plant-based food in the diet of these animals and alter their behavioral patterns, but they would then no longer be wolves. Similarly, clinging to the utopia of a democratized russia within its current borders is futile; they will be different. Injustice forms the foundation of russian imperial ideology and political practice. The ruling class of russia has always regarded honesty as a weakness and meanness as a virtue, fully exploiting and continuing to exploit these “competitive advantages.” This is how russia gained control over most of its current territories.
Over the past five centuries, russia increased its size by 52 times by conquering neighboring countries. For those who are used to believing russian officials who loudly deny Moscow’s bloody colonization, let’s look at the timeline. In the 16th century, russia conquered the Khanate of Kazan, Chuvashia, Mordovia, Udmurtia, Mari El, Bashkiria, the Astrakhan Khanate, the Nogai Horde, the Siberian Khanate, and six states in Siberia. In the 17th century, the empire captured Buryatia, the rest of Siberia and the Far East of russia, and Left-Bank Ukraine. In the 18th century, russia took over part of present-day Kazakhstan, Altai, Ingria, Estonia, Lithuania, Belarus, Southern, Central, and a part of Western Ukraine, the Crimean Khanate, the Aleutian Islands, and Alaska. In the 19th century, it seized Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Circassia, Dagestan, Chechnya, the rest of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Bessarabia, Finland, and parts of Poland.
In the 20th century, it captured the rest of Ukraine, Belarus, and East Prussia.
These conquests were usually brutal, flooding the “new territories” in blood and burning all those who disagreed. They conquered not only with weapons, but also with “cunning”, making advantageous deals with “allies” which were soon brutally violated by the russians, and the other side of the agreement suddenly became the property of the empire.
The resources of the conquered territories were mercilessly exploited and to this day allow the metropolis Moscow to live at its pleasure and the ruling class to maintain its dominant position.
Russians like to induce guilt on Europeans for similar practices by Western empires, and Europeans, for some reason, fall for it despite having long learned from their own history. For russia, however, this remains a present-day political practice and, moreover, a vision of the future.
Inside the country, things are just as bad. russia does not belong to the russians, in the sense that the overwhelming majority of them are deceived by the ruling elite and forced to toil for them “for a bowl of soup”. Free elections do not exist in russia, and the government does not serve the interests of the people. Rights and freedoms are abolished. And it is forbidden for russians to participate in governance, influence policies, or even criticize the actions of the government. The few in power are exploiting all the country’s resources in their own interests.
This is not about inherent traits. Russians do not possess biological characteristics that force them to endure humiliation from the “boyars” and participate in the empire’s crimes. It is about the environment created by the government to control society across this vast and diverse territory. All the shocking and terrifying acts committed by russians in recent years are a result of the qualities created by this environment - state violence and deceit. It seems that due to cultural, religious, and economic contradictions within the various territories of the empire, this is the only effective governing tool. Only through brute force and deceit can the centrifugal forces inherent in the empire be held together.
Those who plan to democratize russia from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok are dreamers.