Ordinary Russians faced the prospect of higher prices and crimped foreign travel as Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine sent the rouble plummeting and people queuing for cash outside banks.
“The parties of the international community that are negotiating with Iran…. must realize that the extremist Iranian regime has not, and will not, abide by international laws, regulations and agreements, even if it swore and signed or pledged to abide by and implement them. The Iranian regime was founded on the… Khomeini ideology that adopts terrorism and believes in exporting chaos and destruction.” — Dr. Ibrahim al-Nahhas, Saudi political analyst and academic, Al-Riyadh, February 23, 2022.
Putin is the most criticized person in western countries today. Repeated criticism of the invasion unleashed by him is justified, both because of the enormous distress caused to the people of Ukraine and the very serious threats posed to world peace and stability.
Putin’s war against Ukraine is likely to bring down at least one and maybe two countries by the end. For a war whose latest phase is less than a week old, some things are clear. The Russian invasion was blatant and undisguised, whatever pretense at finding an immediate, plausible excuse for war (versus longstanding grievances) absolutely failed. As Edward Luttwak memorably noted, Putin the “patient hunter” had become a “reckless gambler.”[1] And unlike previous Russian actions, it was neither a short, swift coup (as with Crimea) nor a seizure of some border regions nor an operation done as if by proxies.’
After a series of air, land, and sea attacks from Russia following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s orders to attack Ukraine and destroy its military installations, NATO has stated that it has no plans to send troops to Ukraine to help repel the Russian army amidst the Russian onslaught.
Racist Ukraine coverage in mainstream Western media. Notice the racist overtones.
“It’s very emotional for me because I see European people with blue eyes and blonde hair being killed”
“World Tour of Wars”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is both illegal and immoral. While Russia’s concern that Ukraine’s decision to join NATO which also included the prospect of NATO setting up a missile base in Ukraine, 100 miles from Russia’s border, is genuine, this by no means is a justification for invading Ukraine. Russia should have continued to explore other better and less violent options.
The Russian war against Ukraine which began on February 24, 2022, and the tenacity exhibited by the latter as it faces the Russian Armed Forces have provided opponents of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) with more fodder for criticism of the organization and its conduct. According to these opponents, HTS misled the Syrian public and even betrayed it when it acquiesced to the ceasefire agreements claiming that it didn’t have the capability to oppose the Russian Armed Forces, and that in that way it was protecting the territories under rebel control. These voices also urged “the true mujahideen” to take advantage of the fact that Russia is now occupied with the fighting in Ukraine to renew the struggle against the Syrian regime, while ignoring the restrictions imposed by HTS. Furthermore, in an apparent reference to the claim that HTS cooperates with the U.S.,[1] the same elements warned that the Americans, who abandoned Ukraine, will have no problem at all abandoning “little collaborators,” such as HTS.
On February 27, 2022, in a post on his Telegram channel, a Tunisian-born Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) cleric ‘commented on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call to foreigners to come to Ukraine to join its fight against the Russian Armed Forces in a special new unit, dubbed the “International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine.”[1]
There is already pressure to get involved if there is a full-scale invasion, but our history with proxy wars is littered with folly.
Editor’s Note, 2/24 6 a.m. EST: Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” against Ukraine Thursday morning local time and his forces have been entering the country and attacking military infrastructure across Ukraine, drawing international condemnation. This is a developing story.