Ukraine

I was planning to take a break from blogging this week. Then Putin ordered the Russian invasion of Ukraine and suddenly the imperative is there to try and respond in words to the horror that such a despicable act of war-mongering has unleashed.

Not that the blatant act of aggression was unexpected. Russia (i.e. Putin) had been building up to it for months by ratcheting up the propaganda, the intimidating threats, the military manoeuvres, the rhetoric - all that bogus "Russians and Ukrainians are one people" bollocks that Vlad the Invader has been spouting. 

His own people live in fear of the man in the Kremlin who has been openly lamenting the demise of the old Soviet empire (USSR). The ex-KGB officer (and second-rate spy) was stationed in East Germany when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. But it should be lost on no one that most of the constituent states of the old Soviet Union and its political extension the Warsaw Pact were more than happy to escape the clutches of Mother Russia at the start of the 21st century. Those in Europe celebrated their new found freedom by applying to join the EU and NATO. Ukraine was among them after the 'Orange Revolution' of 2004  sought to block the progress of the Kremlin's chosen candidate to the Ukrainian presidency. 

For a while I hoped that Russia would transform into a modern European democracy - fat chance as it turned out. Putin, schooled in that old Cold War mindset, with the complicity of Russia's new Barons,  has been steadily consolidating his authoritarian position and pursuing his dream to turn back time and Make Russia Great Again at the centre of an empire of Slavic states, and has been sounding more like a toxic cocktail of Hitler and Stalin with every passing month as the peoples of Eastern Europe moved further away from his world-view. Even Belarus tried to break away a couple of years ago and their Moscow-backed dictator resorted to violence against his own people in order to retain power after he lost the national elections.

Apart from having his eye on its strategic position and vast mineral wealth, Putin's great fear concerning Ukraine is that it was on the path to eradicating the corrupt and repressive practices that had so legitimised the power-hold Russia was able to exercise over satellite states for the best part of a century. Its people were rejecting Russia, were espousing democratic and liberal ideals, were taking steps to address right-wing factionalism and were looking west to Europe to become part of a different union. Not only would that be a huge setback to Putin's own vision for a new Slavic hegemony but it would provide an enticing example on Russia's doorstep of life beyond the stultifying dictatorship of a demagogue.

And so, with the Winter Olympics out of the way (because Putin didn't wish to embarrass his ally China), he pressed the button on the invasion he always pretended wouldn't happen. He tried to provoke Ukraine into giving him a pretence to invade by having the Russian-backed separatists step up their shelling campaign in the east of the country, but when the Ukrainian army refused to retaliate he grew frustrated, declared he was recognising two regions of  eastern Ukraine as separate states and fabricated "evidence of murderous aggression" against the minority of pro-Russian peoples in Donbas as his excuse for sending Russian troops into a sovereign state - a clear act of war. 

He may have professed "fraternal love" for the people of Ukraine and he may have been trying to convince himself that Russians and Ukrainians are one people, but the clear message from Ukraine is simple: 'Fuck off out of our country and leave us alone.' If Ukrainians didn't hate the Russian State before Putin started to put the squeeze on them, they certainly do now, and it is clear they will fight to defend their country, their democracy, their right to self-determination with every means at their disposal. The future is uncertain, but the rest of the world must surely do everything possible to support the Ukrainian cause, to minimise bloodshed and to reduce Putin and his puppets to pariahs on the world stage. Ukraine doesn't deserve this shit.

the future is uncertain

I don't easily write poems under pressure, so this poem will almost certainly be subject to refinement over time. It's partly inspired (tangentially) by a Gang Of Four song (see below). For now here goes.

Love Like Anthrax

Who would hack at the sunflower,

let him take heed. Your gunships

might strafe our skin, your tanks

ride roughshod over our bones,

cruise missiles pierce our heart,

your fog of war sear our lungs,

your embrace around our throat

attempt to squeeze freedom out.

But your misguided attentions,

your brute attempt to deflower, we

unrequite unreservedly. As one body

we reject your love like anthrax.

Our soul is steely and our hatred

will haunt you to your barren grave.

I'm including as a musical bonus a link to the signature song from the mighty Gang Of Four's debut EP 'Damaged Goods'  as the mood and words of that song of 1979 seem entirely fitting in 2022. "Woke up this morning desperation AM...". Click on the link to play: Love Like Anthrax

Thanks for reading, S. #WeStandWithUkraine 💙💛