Ukraine ‘operation’ is forced self-defence

Ukraine was merely chosen by the West as an arena of proxy war

- RUSLAN GOLUBOVSKIY

IN 1961, at the height of the Cold War between the USSR and the USA, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, one of the most internationally acclaimed Russian poets of the 20th century, wrote his famous verse “Do the Russians Want War?”

The idea to create that poem imbued with the spirit of pacifism arose during his foreign trip abroad, when Yevtushenko experienced firsthand how Russians abroad were considered aggressors and instigators of armed conflicts. Therefore, the author suggests turning to the Russians themselves for an answer to the question of whether they want war. “Ask those soldiers lying under the birch trees. And their sons will answer you whether the Russians want war,’ the poet notes.

Yevtushenko’s poem was written only 20 years after the start of World War II, which claimed more than 26.6 million lives in the USSR, and memories of those tragic events are still fresh in people's minds. Therefore, Yevtushenko is convinced that war is an evil that should be avoided. At the same time, the poet emphasises that Russians really know how to fight and are ready to defend their homeland.

History teaches us that the most ironic thing about peace is that, more often than not, you have to fight for it.

With drastically different opinions among political observers about the Special Military Operation (SMO) Russia is conducting in Ukraine, all agree at least that after February 24, 2022, when it was started, international politics will never be the same. Fortunately, more and more people across the globe are beginning to realise that the tough decisions taken by the leadership of Russia on that day are an outcome of a longstanding systemic confrontation imposed on Russia by NATO, the culmination of a line of conflict that had been consistently built up over decades.