In Defeating the ‘Russian Disease,’ Will Ukraine Lose its Soul? (Ukrayinska Pravda, Ukraine)

Can you defeat an enemy without scruples without losing your own? That is Ukraine’s dilemma as outlined by columnist Michael Dubinyansky of Ukraine’s Ukrayinska Pravda newpaper, who writes that while turning back the Russian tide may be possible, in the process Ukraine is likely to end up a lot like its ruthless, and for many detestable, northern neighbor.

For Ukrayinska Pravda, Michael Dubinyansky starts with a bit of history about how nations that war on one another also tend to ‘infect’ each other:

The first major outbreak of syphilis in Europe at the end of the 15th century is associated with the military campaign of King Charles VIII against Italy. The source of the infection was were the ranks of his enormous army, which was accompanied by a wagon train of prostitutes.

 

The term “French disease” soon entered into wide use. Of course, this was only a convention: the international disease spared no one, from [Borgia] Pope Alexander VI to Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II.

 

Today we can use as a convention the term the “Russian disease.” That Russia has been seriously ill for a very long time is not just lackadaisical speculation. It would be hard to find a country in Europe more infected by intolerance, aggression, militarism and chauvinism.

 

History has come full circle and we’ve returned to the middle of the last century. Hatred is once again considered a civil duty, cruelty a virtue, despotism a boon, and the seizure of foreign territory something to be celebrated like a national holiday.

 

This virus of hostility has captured the minds millions.

 

It’s everywhere – on Russian TV and social networks, in drunken conversations, and official statements Russian Foreign Ministry officials.

 

It infects old and young, rich and poor, the lowest members of society and people who until recently had appeared kind and intelligent. It is used to justify contemptible government action; saber rattling and hatred for all: America, Europe, NATO, Georgia, Ukraine, the Baltic states, Asian immigrants, democrats, liberals, gays, blasphemers and the semi-mythical Banderovtsys [Ukrainian nationalist followers of Stepan Bandera].

 

[Editor’s Note: Stepan Bandera was a Ukrainian politician who took the opportunity of Germany’s 1941 invasion of the USSR to push Ukrainians to declare independence. Needless to say, the effort failed, but Bandera continues to be a rallying personality for Ukrainian nationalists. To this day, Russia regards he and his followers to be fascists, since they preferred the Nazis to the Soviets].

READ ON IN ENGLISH OR RUSSIAN OR READ MORE GLOBAL COVERAGE OF THE UKRAINE CRISIS AT WORLDMEETS.US, your most trusted translator and aggregator of foreign news and views about our nation.

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