It’s been a while since my last Thinking Out Loud on these pages. But with so much going on, and regardless of how busy we all are at Kyiv Post, I think that as the Chief Editor it’s time I began sharing my thoughts, observations and views with you again.
What I propose is to add a regular Thoughts of the Day column in which I will flag briefly some of the noteworthy news or relevant events in the form of a personal comment from me.
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So here goes with the trial run of this new format.
Russia and Ukraine’s Western supporters awed by Kyiv’s audacity
We are witnessing an unannounced diversionary counteroffensive by the Armed Forces of Ukraine that has humiliated Putin and his cronies and spread panic and doubts among the Russian public. And it has also shown Western supporters that passivity will not bring peace any closer.
Very relevant anniversaries this week that should not be overlooked
August is replete with dates that remind us of Russia’s despotic imperialism carried out directly through military aggression or its vassals. Let’s recall the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia on Aug. 20, 1968, the attempted coup in Moscow on Aug. 17-19,1991 by hardliners intent on preserving the Soviet empire, the Russian invasion of Georgia on Aug. 8, 2008, and the fraudulent presidential election held in Belarus on Aug. 9, 2020, after which the pro-Russian local despot Alexander Lukashenko suppressed mass peaceful protests and moved even closer to Moscow.
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Aug. 9 is the International Day of Solidarity with Belarus
Today marks the fourth anniversary of the start of the Belarusian peaceful revolution for freedom and democracy triggered by the Lukashenko regime’s rigging of the presidential election. The dictator resorted to harsh repression to hold on to power, and today, there are still an estimated 1,500 political prisoners in the country. Belarus has been transformed into a staging area for Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine. The heroic example set by the Belarusian patriots was applauded in the West at first, but gradually, their struggle for a democratic European, not despotic Russian, future was overlooked. It is perplexing and unacceptable that President Zelensky and his leadership still largely ignore the Belarusian democratic opposition, and it is high time that Ukraine embraced its democratic Belarusian partners in what is, after all, a common struggle.
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