The celebration of all things Ukraine 🇺🇦

Lately since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia there has been a celebration of all things Ukraine, as if the country was some kind of über perfect nation, a model for the world, hopelessly attacked unprovoked by Russia. The celebrators of Ukraine say any criticism of Ukraine is just Russian propaganda and is entirely unjustified as the hopeless nation is under attack.

But that is ignoring the nation’s history of corruption, instability, bad governance and abuse of individual’s civil liberties and rights, especially of the Russian-speaking population living in the western and southern portions of the country, especially the Crimean peninsula and the heavily populated and Russian-native dominated breakaway providences of Donets’k and Luhas’k. Or how the country’s leaders has regularly worked with the neo-nazi sympathetic Azov Battalion in it’s abuse of the Russian-population.

The truth is Ukraine’s leadership partially brought it’s problems upon itself. Russia wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine if not in part for a large sympathetic population of Russian-speaking Ukraine residents who have been abused by their government and want to be liberated. In many ways, Ukraine’s government is a lot like the Taliban — backed by Al Queda and terribly abusive to it’s people.

Now to be clear, Russia’s attack on Ukraine is not justified. Just like the United States’ attack on Afghanistan wasn’t justified either. Other countries shouldn’t be attempting to liberate other countries, no matter how badly they treat their people. That said, other nations shouldn’t be dealing with evil by engaging in commerce, or subsidizing abusive governments.

In contrast, pressure should be put on bad governments, like Russia and Ukraine to enforce human rights protections. Indeed, Ukraine was on the right track by trying to join the European Union and NATO, but they needed to reform how they were governing their people before joining the western community. Russia shouldn’t have invaded Ukraine but neither should have Ukraine abused Russians to extent they have done.