Dmitri Kovalevich is the special correspondent in Ukraine for Al Mayadeen English. He writes monthly situation reports as well as occasional special reports, including the following.
To be allowed to migrate and seek asylum because the people don’t want to die in the front for a piece of land? That’s exactly what I would want if it were me. Would you want to be conscripted for forced labour with the risk of getting sent to the front lines because of some war you don’t want to be part of? And if you say “they definitely want to be part of it,” then explain why the draft and conscription are needed in the first place.
Well, if they’re democratic they should let the people (in which case my self-insert would apply) decide what to do. But a reasonable government could, for example, negotiate an immediate ceasefire and acquiesce to the winning side’s demands to prevent further bloodshed. Or it could grab teenagers off the street and tentative migrants and send them to their deaths. Obviously, I already know that the Ukrainian government and their NATO allies prefer the latter, but we shouldn’t pretend there weren’t other options.
Edit:
What would you do if you were their absolute ruler? Surrender?
Well, yes? Assuming I give even half a fuck about people’s lives, I’d prefer a negotiated peace instead of this shitshow any day. Russia’s demands aren’t even that hard to meet, they’re just dragging this out for profit at this point.
I usually don’t spring that one on them because I’m pretty sure that a lot of Ukraine enjoyers don’t actually know about the Donbas war. It’d be a while to explain, so I try to meet them in the middle a bit, but yes, that would have been the absolute best decision back in 2014.
To be allowed to migrate and seek asylum because the people don’t want to die in the front for a piece of land? That’s exactly what I would want if it were me. Would you want to be conscripted for forced labour with the risk of getting sent to the front lines because of some war you don’t want to be part of? And if you say “they definitely want to be part of it,” then explain why the draft and conscription are needed in the first place.
No, I didn’t ask what “you would want”. I mean I want a million dollars, but wanting things is easy.
I asked what should they do? What should their country do?
What would you do if you were their absolute ruler? Surrender?
Well, if they’re democratic they should let the people (in which case my self-insert would apply) decide what to do. But a reasonable government could, for example, negotiate an immediate ceasefire and acquiesce to the winning side’s demands to prevent further bloodshed. Or it could grab teenagers off the street and tentative migrants and send them to their deaths. Obviously, I already know that the Ukrainian government and their NATO allies prefer the latter, but we shouldn’t pretend there weren’t other options.
Edit:
Well, yes? Assuming I give even half a fuck about people’s lives, I’d prefer a negotiated peace instead of this shitshow any day. Russia’s demands aren’t even that hard to meet, they’re just dragging this out for profit at this point.
also I feel like ukraine should have just let the separatist regions be independent, and not try to erase them from the face of the earth
I usually don’t spring that one on them because I’m pretty sure that a lot of Ukraine enjoyers don’t actually know about the Donbas war. It’d be a while to explain, so I try to meet them in the middle a bit, but yes, that would have been the absolute best decision back in 2014.