Our Friday News Analysis | In Search of a Nation's Soul (Part 18)

The Kyiv Caves Lavra – The Monastery of the Caves complex in Kyiv, Ukraine, is a 1,000-year-old catacomb cradling the mummies of the holiest saints in Russian Orthodoxy.

Zelensky and Putin Both Promise Triumph in New Year Speeches

The leaders of Russia and Ukraine both vowed victory in New Year speeches. While President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of gratitude and pain, President Vladimir Putin urged duty to Russia, casting the war as a near-existential fight.

(See below)

This evening, Russians and Ukrainians* celebrate Christmas Eve. Tomorrow, Saturday, 7 January 2023, is Christmas Day for the people of Armenia, Belarus, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Russia, and Ukraine. Their shared heritage and common bond are the Eastern Orthodox Church, once domiciled in Kyiv. The Radical Nationalists in Kyiv have petitioned Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) to ban the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, the church of most Ukrainians in the West and East of Ukraine.

* The branch of the Russian Orthodox Church that makes allowances for radical nationalism in Kyiv recently amputated itself from the Russian Orthodox Church, thereby orphaning many Ukrainians from their home churches. The renamed Ukrainian Orthodox Church, born out of the ashes of racism – Ukrainians are more human than Russians – has declared December 25 their Christmas Day. The Civil War in Ukraine continues. Radical Nationalists are not just at war against the Ukrainians of Russian descent but also against the Russian Orthodox Church that, for centuries, united Ukrainians of all stripes.

Ukraine is under Martial Law and has outlawed the opposition. Expressing contempt against the present regime in Kyiv is treason, a capital offense. The Radical Nationalists continue to raid the Russian Orthodox churches and imprison priests and parishioners under the pretext they are pro-Russia. Freedom of speech is banned. Religious freedom has become suspect.

Editor's Note | Ukraine's civil war, racism perpetrated by the Radical Nationalists against their Slavic population – Ukrainians of Russian descent — is severely, distressingly, and disturbingly underreported, if not repudiated, in the Western press.

Read: 'Victory to Come When Russian Empire 'Ceases to Exist': Ukraine Parliament Quotes Nazi Collaborator Stephan Bandera,' by Sam Sokol, Haaretz Israel, January 2, 2023.

Verkhovna Rada (The House of Parliament of Ukraine) tweet references dignifying Stepan Bandera, a Ukrainian ultra-nationalist and antisemite whose followers engaged in a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Jews and Poles during World War II.

The Hague, 6 January 2023 | If you know of any story that is decisive, tell the world. We're still searching.

Love Your Enemies

               38-42 “Here’s another old saying that deserves a second look: ‘Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.’ Is that going to get us anywhere? I propose: ‘Don’t hit back at all.’ If someone strikes you, stand there and take it. If someone drags you into court and sues you for the shirt off your back, gift wrap your best coat and make a present of it. And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant's life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.

               43-47 “You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the supple moves of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and evil, the friendly and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. Do you desire a medal if you simply say hello to those who greet you? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

               48 “In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”

               __ Matthew 5: 38-48 (The Message Translation)

What is the Side of the Story that is Not Yet Decisive? By Abraham A. van Kempen featuring the fight of the century, Putin versus Zelensky.

President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena during their New Year's Event Video Message, 31 December 2022 - Copyright Ukrainian Presidential Office / AFP

Excerpts from New Year greetings of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky

               "We have no other option than to win," said Zelensky, dressed in his trademark khaki outfit and standing in darkness with the Ukrainian flag fluttering behind. "We fight as one team – the whole country, all our regions. I admire you all."

A few minutes after Zelensky's speech - released just before midnight Kyiv time on New Year's Eve -- numerous blasts were heard in the capital and around the country. The attacks followed a barrage of more than 20 cruise missiles fired across Ukraine on Saturday -- and many bombardments earlier.

In Zelensky’s mother tongue, he affronts the Russian people by saying: “Your leader wants to show he has the troops behind him and is ahead. But he's hiding. He hides behind the soldiers, missiles, his residences, and palaces.” Continuing his rage in Russian: “Putin's troops are following the devil," thundered Zelensky. "Your propagandists lie," the Ukrainian President said in a speech posted on Instagram. "Waging this war … is for one person to remain in power for the rest of his life."

A police officer stands in front of a screen broadcasting Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual New Year address to the nation on a subway train in Moscow, Russia, 31 December 2022. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov.

Excerpts from the New Year Address to the Nation of President Vladimir Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin devoted his annual New Year's address on Saturday to rallying the Russian people behind his troops fighting in Ukraine and pledging victory over Ukrainian ‘neo-Nazis’ and a West unmistakably intent on ‘destroying Russia.’ He spoke to the nation about the challenges the country has faced over the past year and its achievements. He also met with top military brass during his visit and gave state awards to distinguished soldiers.

               "The main thing is the fate of Russia," Mr. Putin said, dressed in a dark suit and tie. "Defense of the fatherland is our sacred duty to our ancestors and descendants. Moral, historical righteousness is on our side."

Just before midnight on New Year's Eve, President Putin insisted that his troops in Ukraine are "defending our people and our historical territory." His message was being broadcast into millions of homes on state TV just before the clocks struck midnight in each of Russia's 11 time zones, as families tucked into a festive meal and exchanged gifts. The Presidential Speech, delivered in front of grim-faced soldiers in combat uniform, put the war squarely center stage, telling families gathered for the year's main celebration that the months ahead would require support and sacrifice from everyone.

               "The West lied about peace," a grim-faced Putin said, surrounded by solemn soldiers and sailors in uniform. "It was preparing for aggression … and now they are cynically exploiting Ukraine and its people to weaken and split Russia … our soldiers are fighting for our motherland, truth, and justice ... to guarantee Russia's security.”

As the war drags into its 11th month with no end, the Kremlin has slowly put society on more of a war footing. It has forewarned that it will 1) call up more than 300,000 reservists, 2) retool the economy to foresee and forestall a barrage of Western sanctions; and (3) prepare the Russians to anticipate a prolonged struggle.

The dramatic events have shown that Russia, "our multi-ethnic country, has demonstrated its courage and dignity, as it always has during times of trouble," he said, praising the country's military and non-military citizens alike. President Putin talked sternly and combatively about 2022 as the year that "clearly separated courage and heroism from betrayal and cowardice."
Reiterating that the West intends to "destroy Russia by using Kyiv,” Putin vowed he would never allow that. He signaled, once again, that the war, albeit challenging, would continue.

"We have always known, and today we are again convinced that the sovereign, independent, secure future of Russia depends only on us, on our strength and will," he said. "Russian soldiers, militia, and volunteers are fighting for our homeland, for truth and justice, to ensure peace and security for Russia. All of them are heroes to us. Their burden is the heaviest today. With all of my heart, I wish a Happy New Year to all participants of the special military operation," the President said.

While the outgoing year has been "full of worries and anxiety" and many "tough, but necessary decisions" have been made, the country has made "critical steps towards achieving Russia's full sovereignty and a vital consolidation of our society," the President said.

"This was a year of pivotal and fateful events that set the foundation of our common future and our true independence. We fight to protect and safeguard our people in our historic lands, new constituent territories of the Russian Federation," the President stated, referring to the four formerly Ukrainian regions incorporated into Russia after the September referendums.

President Putin said that Russia and the whole world experienced a significant change over the past year, adding that the efforts to harm Russia made by the collective West, which has backed Ukraine in the ongoing conflict, have largely failed. The ongoing conflict has been "inspiring for other nations as they aspire to forge an equitable and multipolar world," the President noted.

"Russia has been living under sanctions since the events in Crimea in 2014. Yet this year, an all-out sanctions war has been declared against us. The masterminds behind it expected our industrial, financial, and transportation sectors to collapse. This didn't happen," Mr. Putin stressed.

"We will triumph for our families and Russia," he pledged – before toasting the service members with champagne. The President thanked Russian troops and demanded more from them.

…

President Zelensky pledged to return lands Moscow proclaimed it had annexed in September.

               "It's impossible to forget. And it's impossible to forgive. But it's possible to win," says President Zelensky.

While listing Ukraine's successes, Zelensky referred to the Crimean Bridge, Moscow's symbol of the annexation of the peninsula that linked it with Russia, torn apart in October by an explosion.

Even though Mr. Putin immediately blamed Kyiv for orchestrating the powerful blast, Ukraine had not previously claimed responsibility for it – or any other attacks inside Russia, since Russia launched its preemptive strike on 24 February 2022.

               "This year has struck our hearts. We've cried out all the tears. We've shouted all the prayers," Zelensky said. "We fight and will continue to fight for the sake of victory."

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Editor’s Note | If the Zelensky Regime retakes the Eastern region primarily populated by Ukrainians of Russian descent, would Ukraine offer the people in the Donbas self-determination in the form of a referendum, decreed under International Law? Could the Ukrainians of Russian descent ever trust the Nationalists in Kyiv? Will the Ukrainian-Russians now want to leave Mother Russia, their refuge, the country of their dreams and bygone days? Could the Ukrainians of good faith ever treat their Slavic cousins with dignity? Why do the Ukrainian Radical Nationalists treat the Russians like dogs?

Can the Radical Nationalists go through one door with the Slavic population they despise?

               Successive governments that came into power in Ukraine following the anti-Russian Euromaidan coup of 2014 have initiated a virulent campaign of de-communization.

               They have also attempted to normalize support for far-right Ukrainian nationalist legions and their leaders from World War II, who were Nazi collaborators and mass murderers of Jews, the Polish, and fellow Ukrainians.

               Neo-Nazi groups like Right Sector and the Azov Battalion have been active in post-Maidan Ukraine and continue to be active belligerents in the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war.

Read: 'Ukraine's glorification of Stepan Bandera draws criticism even from key ally' by People's Dispatch, January 5, 2023.

A collage of a photo of a right-wing rally in honor of Stepan Bandera and the tweet from the Ukrainian Parliament on January 1, 2023. Note the Ukrainian Armed Forces chief, General Valery Zaluzhny, with a large portrait of the Nazi collaborator in the background."(Photo: via Labor Heartlands)

               Ukraine's support for neo-Nazi groups and its attempts to officially recognize pro-Nazi legions and Nazi collaborators from World War II have been steadfastly criticized by communists and other anti-fascist groups in the region.

               Even though Kyiv's supporters in Europe and North America have hitherto maintained a complicit silence about these maneuvers, the latest gesture by the Ukrainian Parliament, cheering on the birthday of the Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera, has drawn sharp criticism even from neighboring Poland, its staunch ally in the ongoing war with Russia.

               On January 1, a post celebrating the 114th birthday of Stepan Bandera—notorious Ukrainian far-right leader and World War II Nazi collaborator—was tweeted from the official handle of the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian Parliament.

               According to reports, the tweet contained "a quote from Stepan Bandera and a photo of the Ukrainian Armed Forces chief, General Valery Zaluzhny, with a large portrait of the Nazi collaborator in the background."

               After receiving a significant amount of criticism, it was later deleted from the Twitter handle of Verkhovna Rada.

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Read more: A Simple Guide for Behavior

               7 1-5 “Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging.

               It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your face is distorted by contempt?

               It’s this traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part.

               Wipe that ugly sneer off your face, and you might be able to offer your neighbor a washcloth.

               __ Matthew 7: 1-7 Message Translation

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Our Wednesday News Analysis | 'What 2022 taught Palestinians,' 4 January 2023.

The Evangelical Pope| 'The Hourglass … Time Belongs to God,' 2 January 2023.

The views expressed are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of the Building the Bridge Foundation, The Hague.