They Were Absolutely Wrong …

About Russia’s Absolutely Unprovoked Invasion of Ukraine

Thanks to https://buymeacoffee.com/saintanger Illya Ponomarkenko for the article. The idea was his, the added context mine. If you can spare a buck or two for this article, send it his way.

They were…

• absolutely wrong about the very possibility of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For weeks, we heard denials from the pro-Russian commentators and the Russian government. We heard justification after explanation, from nazis to linguistic persecution to imagined repressions — none of it was real. These are just exercises, they proclaimed, not even informing their own soldiers of the intent.
• absolutely wrong about the Ukrainian morale and popular support of national independence and sovereignty — absolutely wrong about Ukraine’s ability and readiness to even survive the attack’s first hours, stay functional, and take the fight to Russia. I got this right, but it could have been easily seen in the patriotic displays only days before the invasion or by the results of elections for thirty years before Russia’s invasion. Seeing this required knowledge of two things — Ukrainian patriotism and Russian corruption — two blind spots to most Western analysts, who have relied upon Russian reporting for their news about Ukraine for decades.
• absolutely wrong about the inevitable fall of Kyiv within 48 to 72 hours — absolutely wrong about the possibility of Western…