Figured the Ukraine would have given up by now, but apparently they still enjoy the meat grinder. That said it has been interesting watching the Russians display the new land warfare doctrine of the 21st century.
The other interesting consideration is whether Zelenzkys leash holders are demanding he try for terms or if he's acting of his own accord. From the past year it's fairly apparent that the proverbial they absolutely own his ass, so one would assume that he's still on their strings.
If so, then one wonders what new nonsense they'll move on to after this.
Zelinsky is being paid to continue a war that can kill his political enemies and secure his base of power.
No shit, the war continued.
This is like when the UN initiated "Cease Fires" during the Arab-Israeli Wars. If they hadn't done that, the Arabs would have been fucking wiped out, so international forces got together to prolong the conflict in the interests of the Arabs, and in their own interests of perpetuating the conflict for strategic and economic reasons.
Kill? Both Azov (the entire movement tens of thousands members and supporters) and RS only got strengthened since February. Vastly so. Azov now have a brigade and actual popular following as heroes everywhere and not just Mariupol. RS finally got the regular status for their militias and weapons from the government, and also have more members and supporters than ever.
There's also a general radicalization of the society. Massive shift right, and far right especially. While far left parties of all sorts being outright banned, delegalized.
Heres one article in some basic plain terms that should be easy for Westerners to understand:
In this, the current war has surely come as a blessed relief for Azov. Biletsky’s attempt to found a political party — the National Corps — met with almost zero success, with even a united bloc of Ukraine’s far- and extreme Right-wing parties failing to clear the very low hurdle for parliamentary representation in the last election: Ukrainian voters simply do not want what they are selling, and reject their worldview. Yet in time of war, Azov and similar groups come to the forefront, with the Russian invasion seemingly reversing the downward spiral that set in for them following Avakov’s resignation due to international pressure. Judging by their social media, Azov’s armed units are expanding: they’re forming new battalions in Kharkiv and Dnipro, a new special forces unit in Kyiv (where Biletsky is organising at least some aspects of the capital’s defence) and local defence militias in western cities such as Ivano-Frankivsk.
Like Ukraine’s other extreme Right-wing militias, Azov are dogged, disciplined and committed fighters, which is why the weak Ukrainian state has found itself forced to rely upon their muscle during its hours of greatest need: during the Maidan revolution, during the war against separatists from 2014 onwards, and now to fend off the Russian invasion. There has been a certain new-found reticence abroad to speak frankly about their role, no doubt for fear that doing so will provide ammunition for Russian propaganda. This fear is surely misplaced: after all, groups such as Azov are only prominent precisely because of Russia’s meddling in Ukraine. Instead of de-Nazifying the country, Russian aggression has helped solidify the role and presence of extreme Right-wing factions in Ukraine’s military, reinvigorating a waning political force rejected by the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians.
If anything, the primary threat posed by groups such as Azov is not to the Russian state — Russia happily supports extreme Right-wing elements in its Wagner mercenary group and in the separatist republics, after all — nor to Western nations whose disaffected citizens may find themselves drawn to a combat role alongside them. Instead, the threat is to the future stability of the Ukrainian state itself, as Amnesty and Human Rights Watch have long warned. While they may be useful now, in the event of the decapitation or evacuation of Ukraine’s liberal government from Kyiv, perhaps to Poland or Lviv, or more likely, in the event of Zelenskyy being forced by events to sign a peace deal surrendering Ukrainian territory, groups like Azov may find a golden opportunity to challenge what remains of the state and consolidate their own power bases, even if only locally.
Back in 2019, I asked Semenyaka if Azov still saw itself as a revolutionary movement. Thinking carefully, she replied, “We are ready for different scenarios. If Zelenskyy is even worse than [ex-president] Poroshenko, if he is the same kind of populist, but without certain skills, connections and background, then, of course, Ukrainians would be heavily in danger. And we have already developed a plan of what can be done, how we can develop parallel state structures, how we can customise these entry strategies to save the Ukrainian state, if [Zelenskyy] would become a puppet of the Kremlin, for instance. Because it’s quite possible.”
Senior Azov figures have been explicit, over the course of years, in stating that Ukraine has unique potential as a springboard for the “reconquest” of Europe from liberals, homosexuals and immigrants. While their broader contintental ambitions may have a very doubtful chance of success, a broken, impoverished and angry postwar Ukraine, or worse, a Ukraine suffering years of bombardment and occupation with large areas outside central government control, would surely be a fertile breeding ground for a form of extreme Right-wing militancy not seen in Europe for many decades.
It's not a battalion, it was one only from June to September 2014.
Since March 2022 it also expanded from a regiment to a brigade, but this happened only due to the newfound situation. A special situation like them special military operations
They were always promoted by Avakov. Zelensky finally forced him out in 2021.
How much do you know about Ukraianin politics? Anything at all?
Figured the Ukraine would have given up by now, but apparently they still enjoy the meat grinder. That said it has been interesting watching the Russians display the new land warfare doctrine of the 21st century.
The other interesting consideration is whether Zelenzkys leash holders are demanding he try for terms or if he's acting of his own accord. From the past year it's fairly apparent that the proverbial they absolutely own his ass, so one would assume that he's still on their strings.
If so, then one wonders what new nonsense they'll move on to after this.
Zelinsky is being paid to continue a war that can kill his political enemies and secure his base of power.
No shit, the war continued.
This is like when the UN initiated "Cease Fires" during the Arab-Israeli Wars. If they hadn't done that, the Arabs would have been fucking wiped out, so international forces got together to prolong the conflict in the interests of the Arabs, and in their own interests of perpetuating the conflict for strategic and economic reasons.
Kill? Both Azov (the entire movement tens of thousands members and supporters) and RS only got strengthened since February. Vastly so. Azov now have a brigade and actual popular following as heroes everywhere and not just Mariupol. RS finally got the regular status for their militias and weapons from the government, and also have more members and supporters than ever.
There's also a general radicalization of the society. Massive shift right, and far right especially. While far left parties of all sorts being outright banned, delegalized.
I don't see how the Azov battalion's support is relevant. They are not Zelinsky's immediate enemies.
Heres one article in some basic plain terms that should be easy for Westerners to understand:
https://unherd.com/2022/06/the-truth-about-ukraines-nazi-militias/
It's not a battalion, it was one only from June to September 2014.
Since March 2022 it also expanded from a regiment to a brigade, but this happened only due to the newfound situation. A special situation like them special military operations
They were always promoted by Avakov. Zelensky finally forced him out in 2021.
How much do you know about Ukraianin politics? Anything at all?
Introduction to Avakov, from 2020: https://carnegiemoscow.org/commentary/81054