Russia has in the past two years
- Claimed Ukrainians are really Russians, and Ukraine has no legitimacy as a nation.
- Claimed Russia is simply trying to remove Nazis from Ukraine.
- Claimed they are trying to save Russian speakers in Ukraine, despite the fact those same Russian speakers have suffered and died just the same as any other Ukrainians.
- Repeatedly bombed and terrorised Ukrainian civilians, including those Russian speakers.
- Claimed they are at war with NATO, but also made it illegal to call the Ukraine War a “war”.
- Despite being “at war with NATO”, they’ve moved forces away from the Finnish border to reinforce their units in Ukraine. Is (NATO member) Finland a threat or not?
- Annexed four Ukrainian oblasts, despite not even occupying them entirely.
- Said the west shouldn’t interfere in Russian affairs on the grounds of national sovereignty, despite invading their sovereign neighbour.
I could keep going, but you get the picture. It’s true that other governments have inconsistent policies, and I have agreed with that. But the sheer scale of Russian disinformation, distraction and destruction are far beyond those of other governments. And playing the “what about” card is nothing but a tactic of derailing the conversation; it adds nothing, just making the discourse confused and meaningless. We aren’t talking about “other countries”, we’re talking about Russia.
How does Putin’s boot taste?