Many people, too many people, either because of the propaganda that they have been exposed to or because they are consciously exposing themselves to the propaganda keep believing that Ukraine is capable of winning the current war with Russia. It is sort of strange. If you are one of them, all you need to do is to assess – quite cursorily! – the two adversaries. The whole relevant knowledge is at your fingertips. Just consult your Wikipedia and look up
1 the population size,
2 the area size,
of the belligerents and then look at maps to see how Ukrainian territory is wedged into that of Russia, which renders its easternmost troops encircled at the kick-off. Now, what would you expect? Why would you listen to the many experts?
By way of comparison, look at the map of the two hostile countries in 1938: Germany and Czechoslovakia, and notice the encirclement of the latter:
The Partition of Czechoslovakia: Every Day, YouTube
Also by way of comparison, look at the map of the two belligerent countries of September 1939: Germany and Poland, and – again – notice the encirclement of the latter:
WW2 – Germany vs Poland, 1939, YouTube
Now compare it with the location of Russia and Ukraine A.D. 2023, and – again – notice the encirclement of the latter:
Would that observation alone not be enough?
In case it would not, then compare the human potential. In 1938/1939 the German Reich after it had incorporated Austria had 80 million inhabitants as opposed to 15 million in Czechoslovakia in 1938, and 36 million in Poland in 1939. Today’s Russia has a population of almost 150 million whereas Ukraine – hm… – an estimated 36 million, but due to massive emigration probably the number is far lower.
Let us reiterate the question: first, what effort does it take to find out these data; and, second, does it take a rocket science engineer’s knowledge to be able to foresee the outcome of the struggle?
Notice also that we haven’t compared the economic potential of the belligerent countries nor have we taken into consideration the existence of national minorities. Both facets resemble again their counterparts as they existed between Germany on the other hand and Czechoslovakia or Poland in 1938/39 on the other. Just as Czechoslovakia and Poland had hostile German ethnic minorities in their territories (especially Czechoslovakia with its 3 million Germans), so does Ukraine’s population comprise millions of citizens who either identify as Russians or speak Russian as their mother tongue and as a result are not willing to sacrifice their lives in this war.
Take Crimea for that matter. Crimea was to Ukraine just like the Sudetenland was to prewar Czechoslovakia: in either case the two mentioned territories were predominantly populated by ethnic minorities that naturally wished to be joined to their brothers and sisters across the state border.
What about the economic potential? Again, it does not take a genius to realize how much Russia is more advanced in this respect than Ukraine. Just one telling observation: Ukrainians who leave Ukraine in search of employment leave their country not only for the West but also – in droves – for… Russia. Can we say that we have a reversed phenomenon?
All the information and knowledge adduced above is readily available to anyone. As already said, it is at anyone’s fingertips. It is virtually a few clicks away. Why then listen to the mendacious experts rather than do your own short and simple research? What does it cost you the look up maps similar to those that we are presenting here? What does it cost you to look up information on the population numbers?
And a more interesting question: What makes you believe the unbelievable, the impossible, the unlikely? Look, when you are about to watch a match, a race, a contest between a world champion and a player, a team of a very low ranking, you do not expect a miracle, or do you?
Why support the hostilities knowing full well that hundreds of thousands of people on both sides but especially Ukrainians get killed and mutilated? People in the West keep saying that human life is oh so important, invaluable. Why then throw – consciously! – thousands of lives into a meat grinder?
But I hear you say: it’s different because the whole world (nay, only the whole Western world) is helping Ukraine! If you think so, then, again, look back for precedents. The West did not support Czechoslovakia in 1938, so the country laid down its arms and surrendered. The world (the Western world) supported Poland to the point of declaring war on Germany, so the country put up a fight. The result? During the ensuing five years of war, of occupation, of guerrilla warfare Poland was bulldozed and its population – decimated. Postwar Poland counted 24 million inhabitants as opposed to the 36! million prior to war. Towns, the industry, the infrastructure were all ravaged and devastated. Warsaw looked like Hiroshima, while Prague – like war had never happened. Ukraine is in for pretty much the same what Poland was in 1039-1945. Still, the powers that be insist that the war continue. Why? Obviously, it is not Ukraine’s political sovereignty, territorial integrity or social welfare that matter. Ukraine is being used as a battering ram against Russia. That’s all there is to it.
