Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine last February, the progressive world and other well-meaning people have condemned its aggressive President, Vladimir Putin, for this blatant infringement of the sovereignty of its neighbour.
Despite the covert support of three rogue states-Belarus, North Korea and Iran, Russia has not been able to subdue Ukraine as expected at the beginning of this war.
Instead, it’s Russia that is retreating shamelessly after suffering heavy defeats from the ceaseless poundings by the gallant Ukrainian forces.
Russia, the Super Power, is in reality, a paper tiger and super flop, when confronted by the courageous Ukrainian soldiers who have shown clearly that might is not always right.
This is not the first time a super power has been humiliated in foreign wars. America was defeated in its military misadventures in Vietnam; China was not able to overcome Vietnam in their fierce border war in the’80s.
Putin didn’t learn from these recent lessons of history. He probably thought that because he got away with the criminal annexation of Crimea, he could overrun Ukraine again without much resistance. Wrong! Kherson, one of the four regions of Ukraine he annexed in this war, has been reclaimed by the Ukrainians after Putin’s troops abandoned the area, in the wake of imminent defeat.
Putin’s cowardly shelling of Ukrainian towns and the hitting of soft targets and social infrastructure by Russian forces is nothing but clear evidence of the frustration of the Russians in this campaign.
This is a lost war, and Putin and his cohorts know it.
It’s a shame a super power of Russia’s standing would be asking for Iranian drones and military hardware from the evil regime of North Korea, to fight Ukraine.
It then presupposes that the much- vaunted military prowess of Russia is a myth.
Putin is now under pressure to negotiate a peace treaty with Ukraine after its ambitious military objectives have failed abysmally. It’s absolutely clear also that Russia can’t defeat Ukraine. Its soldiers lack the combat power to do that as we have seen clearly, even after it ordered a massive draft.
Against the Taliban, the Russians were bugged down in a costly bush war that ended in humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The Americans went into Afghanistan after helping the Taliban to chase the Russians away but they, too, ended up being humiliated out of what turned out to be one of the most brutal Islamic insurgencies ever.
Today, the Taliban is in power at the expense of America and Russia. Two great powers! Putin didn’t learn from this lesson.
It’s no longer easy for bigger powers to overrun small powers, regardless of their firepower. Many things are involved in prosecuting modern warfare.I wish the other world powers like China would learn from this before they invade Taiwan as being threatened.
Thank God, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the recent summit in Bali, Indonesia and both leaders apparently retreated from their grandstanding over Taiwan.
For both leaders, the narrative appears to be changing from the threat of war to the search for peaceful resolution of their dispute over Taiwan. This is the best path to follow in today’s charged global arena following the negative fallout of the ravages of Covid 19 and the impact of climate change on the environment, global warming, drought,food shortages, economic crisis,etc.
In the wake of several regional wars in the horn of Africa between Ethiopia and Tigray, the civil war in Central America, Syria and other places, the world doesn’t need another conflict.
Nowadays, nations are becoming increasingly interconnected. Events in one country affect several other nations in far -flung places.
Putin’s war in Ukraine has jeopardized grain supplies from the latter to the global market.This is a severe, if unintended collateral damage that has brought untold suffering to the world.
Mr Putin must be forced to end this war, by whatever means. That’s the responsibility of the global community, not just NATO alone.
•Ayodeji, author, pastor and life coach, can be reached on 09059243004 (SMS, WhatsApp and email: [email protected] only)