In The Face Of The Devastating Russian Onslaught Is Zelensky Being Irresponsible?

For a month now, Vladimir Putin has been unleashing devastation on Ukraine, creating a major humanitarian crisis. 10 million Ukrainians have been displaced from their homes, and 3.5 million have fled the country. That is the population of Berlin.

The level of bombardment is unjustified; however, in the fog of war, it is difficult to get a clear indication of what is really going on. It doesn’t help that you have a totally biased press, and many politicians are pushing to get NATO, and specifically the U.S., into the conflict.

There has been tension between Russia and Ukraine since the break up of the Soviet Union. The Donbas region in the eastern part of Ukraine is predominantly Russian, while the west is primarily native Ukrainians. There has been civil strife in the east, resulting in many deaths for several years.

The bone of contention in the recent conflict centres around the European Union and NATO enticing Ukraine to join them. Russia has felt that this would be a threat, having sophisticated weapons including rockets aimed at her homeland. 

Before the Russian invasion, Putin asked Ukraine not to join NATO and declare itself as a neutral country. Russia insisted on retaining territory in the east of Ukraine where it felt that Russians were being persecuted. Rightly or wrong, this has been the Russian stance. Despite this, the European countries and Americans would not give the Russians any such assurances. 

Over many weeks Russian military amassed forces along the Ukraine border. Instead of diffusing the situation by entering into meaningful talks, Zelensky gave the Russians the middle finger. America, which could have played a key role in calming the tension, actually fomented tension by increasing its anti-Russian rhetoric. In recent years Russia has been portrayed as the evilest country.

So it came as no surprise when Putin directed his forces to attack. With some cities lying in ruins and many civilian deaths, Zelensky persisted in pushing Europe and America to supply weapons to further stir the pot.

As one spokesperson for the U.N. refugee agency stated, the scale of people fleeing danger in Ukraine is “unprecedented in recent memory.”

At what point does a leader realize that if he continues on the same path, there won’t be much of a country left? Russia’s weaponry is vastly superior to those of Ukraine. Would an option be for Zelensky to relent and prioritize the safety of his citizens? What if he comes to that realization with even more devastation in another week or two? I would think people would be angry because the invasion and ensuing damage could have been prevented if he had acted earlier.

Is there a precedent for demanding peace in the face of a country that is much stronger militarily? Of course, there is.

During the Second World War in 1940, Germany overran France. The northern part was occupied by the Germans, while in the south, a semiautonomous region name Vichy was set up in which the French would administer the region without German occupation. The only catch was that Vichy France under Philippe Petain was sympathetic to the Nazis. France had to wait another four years until it was liberated to get its country back whole without Nazi occupation. The French managed to keep damage to a minimum, and the great museums in Paris survived the war.

In 1945, the Japanese refused to surrender to the Americans even though their islands were bombed around the clock. The Potsdam Agreement had already negotiated the post-war make-up of Europe. American assessment of war with the Japanese was that many thousands of lives would be lost with a land invasion of Japan.

The U.S. had at its disposal a nuclear bomb after the successful detonation at the test site in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Leaflets were dropped over Japan to warn residents of a devastating weapon if Japan didn’t surrender.

Rightly or wrongly, the U.S. dropped the first atomic weapon on the city of Hiroshima. Despite the devastation, with over 100,000 vaporized and killed and thousands suffering devastating radiation burns; still, the Japanese refused to surrender. After the second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki a few days later, the Japanese succumbed and signed a peace treaty. They saw the writing on the wall.

After several years, Japan developed a thriving economy, the envy of many other countries. In addition, many civilian lives were saved.

The question today for Vladimir Zelensky is how long does he continue to take a battering from the Russians, and how many more civilian lives are going to be ruined? The war may go on several more weeks and even months.

There comes the point where one sees that the hero status––that Zelensky is currently afforded––pales in comparison to the utter devastation to his country and its people. If Zelensky ultimately gives in to Russia’s original demands, many Ukrainians may ask what was this for? I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes.