- 05
- Sep.
- 2024
This war is going to end badly. It stands as the worst bloodbath in Europe since World War II—a senseless, pointless conflict. Here, two similar peoples, Slavic and mostly Orthodox, are engaged in mutual destruction with chilling indifference.
Both Ukraine and Russia were already facing demographic crises before the conflict began. Since February 2022, 8 million Ukrainians (out of 41 million) have left their country.
Russia is also bleeding. Millions of young Russians have fled to escape “voluntary” conscription. Experts predict that in 25 years, the Russian population will return to 19th-century levels!
The casualty figures are staggering, with approximately 600,000 dead or wounded since the beginning of the hostilities. Both sides exaggerate the losses of their opponents while downplaying their own.
The conflict features hand-to-hand combat reminiscent of the hell of Verdun's worst days (during WWI), fires at nuclear plants, massacres, cities leveled, and infrastructures destroyed—all for little or no purpose.
On one side, we have an authoritarian regime led by Vladimir Putin. We all remember the images from the early days of the so-called “special military operation” that was supposed to last for just a few days. They were marked by footage of Putin questioning a Russian intelligence chief about the wisdom of the attack. The officer’s forced, fearful affirmative response was telling.
This mirrors the "Saddam Syndrome": a single man making disastrous decisions without challenge or dissent, leading his people to ruin.
This is where democracy proves its value: such madness cannot proceed without accountability.
On the other side, Volodymyr Zelensky, a masterful communicator who has retained from his acting career a keen sense of detail. Whether in military uniforms or a khaki T-shirt, with the weary beard of someone who has just returned from the frontline, he has won the image war and secured support from a West alarmed by Russian nationalism.
No one stands in between. The UN is notably missing in action. Europe has aligned with Ukraine, and the United States is investing tens of billions of dollars to contain the "Russian bear." Yet, the Russian military has proven ineffective. Its advances come at a severe human cost, and its weaponry is outdated compared to the modern equipment supplied to Ukraine. Iranian-made drones further highlight the obsolescence of its arsenal.
On the ground, the situation remains unclear. While Russia controls parts of eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian army has, for the first time since 1945, brought the conflict to Russian territory—at Kursk, a site symbolic of the largest tank battle in history against the Nazis in 1943.
The sense that this war will never end grows stronger each day. The tragedy is the lack of mediation or even proposals for a ceasefire, let alone peace. The conflict has already spread to the rest of the world. Russia and its Wagner Group mercenaries have done much to hasten France's expulsion from Africa. In Mali, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Niger… countries are falling like dominoes into the Kremlin's orbit.
In the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Moscow sometimes fans the flames and sometimes plays the role of an observer. It is highly likely that as the conflict continues, other regions of the world will be affected. China, feeling targeted by the Americans, is keeping Russia economically afloat through hydrocarbon purchases. It would be tempting, though simplistic, to speak of the “Lebanonization” of this war: a multitude of players, small zones under various controls, zealots at the helm, and a continuous flow of weapons and money to ensure this senseless barbarity continues.
It looks like a double-assisted suicide leading to an ultimate catastrophe. Perhaps even a nuclear one.
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