A Delusional Mistake

Spectator

By Stephen Tuttle | March 12, 2022

Ukraine has been in the middle of squabbles between Asia in the East and Europe in the West for centuries. Even their modern history is one of conflict.

Within a year of the Russian revolution of 1917, Ukraine was under constant attack, and the occupation and control of Kyiv, their leading city and today’s capital, changed hands repeatedly. In just 18 months between late 1918 to mid 1920, the Russian Bolsheviks, then the Germans, then the Bolsheviks, then the Russian White Army, then the Bolsheviks, then the Poles, and finally the Bolsheviks yet a fourth time, took brief turns in Kyiv.

The Nazis came calling at the beginning of World War II in Europe, which some Ukrainians saw as a relief from being under a Stalinist thumb. Forced collectivism of the 1930s destroyed a vibrant Ukraine agricultural economy. Impossible-to-meet production quotas led to grain rationing restrictions, and as many as 10 million starved to death.

Then, in 1944, Joseph Stalin’s thugs forced the relocation of nearly 200,000 ethnic Tatars from Crimea to what is today’s Uzbekistan, thousands of miles away, accusing them mostly unjustly of sympathizing with the Nazis. As many as 20 percent of that population died in the process. Songs of protest are still written about it and regularly performed.

Ukraine became the crown jewel of the Soviet Union’s satellites of Soviet Socialist Republics and their leading arms manufacturer. Pleas for, and attempts at, independence were regular events as the extremely limited autonomy granted by the Soviet leadership was insufficient for Ukrainians’ instincts for independence. The Soviet Union collapsed, and Ukraine finally became fully independent in 1991.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Ukraine is “not a real country,” a convenient lie about a real country he’s trying to destroy.

Strategically located on the Black Sea, today’s Ukraine is only slightly smaller than Texas but with a population of nearly 44 million, a number likely shrinking under Russian bombardment. They would like to be a member of the European Union (EU) and they have much to offer. So much, in fact, that they would represent strong competition for Russia in providing all manner of valuable exports to Europe.

Putin, a former KGB agent, is a megalomaniacal imperialist who wants to rebuild the old Soviet Union, and he can’t do it without Ukraine. So what do they have that’s so almighty important?

You start with enormous, mostly untapped natural gas reserves, Europe’s second largest after Norway’s North Sea bounty. Ukraine still gets half their gas from Russia, but would need not do so if they exploited their own resources as part of the EU.

They are one of the top iron ore producers in the world (Russia and Australia produce more) and have large manganese ore, mercury ore (cinnabar), and lithium deposits. Not to mention they have the largest uranium deposits, the second largest coal deposits, and the second largest titanium deposits in Europe. They also have a host of obscure rare earth metals needed for our modern digital world.

They are a treasure trove of natural resources, much of which is still untapped. Should Russia annex them, it would give Ukraine even more leverage over Europe. And their exports aren’t limited to just minerals and fossil fuels. Despite their history of being in conflicts they didn’t start and their rich natural resources, their economy is driven by agriculture.

They have more arable land than any other European country. They are the world’s leading producer of sunflower seeds and oil and sit in the top 10 globally for barley production and exports, corn production and exports, potato production, and rye production.

Their government has been beset by various corruption scandals and occasional wild instability, but they are a very young democracy feeling their way while Soviet loyalists who benefited from the bad old days have fomented unrest. Two small states in a western corner of the country clamor for what would be pro-Russia independence.

Putin’s invasion justification was first a peace-keeping mission, then a “denazification” quest. In truth, he’s just an oppressive bully whose mind is stuck in a bygone era. He wants to keep Ukraine out of the EU and to steal their substantial resources. He is perfectly willing to kill tens or hundreds of thousands in service to his vile thievery.

We have no treaties with Ukraine. They are not members of the EU or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), so no one is obliged to defend them. But, having tasted real independence, however messy, Ukrainians will continue fighting for their freedom as they have been forced to do for centuries. And Vladimir Putin will rue the day his delusions of grandeur got the better of his common sense.