What Ukraine should look like after Russia’s victory will mark the beginning of a stable and secure future for both nations – Dmitry Trenin
www.rt.com
The coming post-conflict process will mark the beginning of a stable and secure future for both nations
There’s a timeless rule: in peace, prepare for war; in war, think about peace. As the conflict in Ukraine nears its inevitable conclusion – a Russia victory – our thoughts must turn toward the future and to the shape of the peace that follows.
To paraphrase Stalin: The Banderites [followers of the WW2 Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera] come and go, but the Ukrainian people remain.
The Future Map of Ukraine
Ukraine, as it existed on December 31, 1991, is gone. Crimea, Donbass, and two other regions have already returned to Russia through referendums. More will likely follow – perhaps Odessa, Nikolayev, Kharkov, or Dnepropetrovsk. But not all of them. We will take only what can be integrated and defended. Expansion must be strategic, not emotional.
Kiev’s remaining territories will stay outside Russia’s borders. What kind of Ukraine will emerge there? Answering this question is critical, not just for Ukraine’s future, but for Russia’s security.
A Russian Mission of Liberation
In civilizational, cultural, and historical terms, Ukraine – or most of it – belongs to the Russian world. Today, however, it’s held hostage by anti-Russian forces backed by the West. These forces use Russian people against Russia, fighting with persistence, cunning, and brutality – despite catastrophic losses.
Moscow’s historic mission does not end with the liberation of Donbass and Novorossiya. We must free all of Ukraine from the neo-Nazi Bandera regime and its foreign sponsors. This is not imperial conquest, but national security.
Ukraine belongs first and foremost to those living there – but Russia is inseparably linked to these people and their land. After the war, we must help our neighbors rebuild Ukraine: first pacified, then peaceful, eventually a partner, and ultimately an ally.
Russia has proven its ability to turn military adversaries into allies. Look at Chechnya, now a bastion of stability in the North Caucasus. Consider Russia’s post-war partnership with Afghanistan’s Northern Alliance, or how East Germany became a Soviet ally after World War II.
Post-War Scenarios
Experts in Russia have outlined various visions for post-war Ukraine.
Full Integration: Russia could take all of Ukraine, including Lviv, up to NATO’s borders. This would mean a second reunification – the end of Ukrainian statehood. But keeping such a vast territory, fully integrating it and paying for its reconstruction, would be a colossal burden.
Pro-Western Ukraine: The worst-case scenario is a bitter, revanchist Ukraine with slightly reduced borders – a virulently anti-Russian state controlled by the West. Its sole purpose would be to provoke and attack Russia when the time is right. This possibility must be prevented at all costs.
Failed State: A fragmented Ukraine, abandoned by the West and dependent on Russia, might descend into chaos – a kind of anarchist
“Gulyaypole” ruled by criminal gangs and militias. Russia could try manipulating these forces, but Western meddling would persist. This unstable scenario is undesirable.
Divided Ukraine: The most realistic and advantageous outcome would be a divided Ukraine. Anti-Russian forces could be pushed into the western regions under NATO protection, possibly splitting the country into a
“Free Ukraine” controlled by Poland, Hungary, and Romania, and a new Ukraine. Let the West console itself with this Cold War-style buffer state.
Meanwhile, the new Ukraine – stripped of ultra-nationalist elements – could emerge, free from toxic ideologies. This Ukraine would be smaller but stable, economically integrated with Russia, and politically neutral. It makes sense to offer such a prospect to the Ukrainians and explain to them how advantageous it is for them.
A New Ukrainian Identity
The new Ukraine would be more genuinely Ukrainian than its Soviet predecessor. Joseph Stalin made a mistake by attaching the former Polish provinces of Galicia and Volyn and infecting the state with the virus of nationalism. Ukrainian culture could flourish without foreign interference, while its economy would be integrated into the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union. Kiev would be cleansed of the corrupt elites that infested it after the Western-backed 2014 Maidan coup.
This Ukraine would inherit the best of its historical legacy: Kievan Rus’, the Zaporozhian Cossacks, and the cultural achievements of its Soviet past. It would be proud of its contributions to the Russian Empire, the USSR, and to shared East Slavic civilization.
In today’s world, true sovereignty for Ukraine, as for other post-Soviet states, is possible only through close cooperation with Russia. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church would remain the spiritual anchor of the new state.
Preparing for the Future
We don’t need to wait for the war’s end to begin this work. Many patriotic Ukrainians already live in Russia, ready to rebuild their homeland. We must identify war criminals and incorrigible Russophobes, but also recruit patriots, officers, entrepreneurs, and cultural leaders willing to help rebuild Ukraine with Russian support.
We must also expose the West’s cynical treatment of Ukraine: We must expose the West’s cynical use of Ukraine: a disposable pawn, its resources plundered by Western corporations, its culture crushed under the weight of foreign mass consumerism and radical ideology. Ukrainians must see that their future lies not in a hostile, exploitative West but in partnership with Russia.
A War for Russia’s Future
This is not just about Ukraine. Victory means defeating the West’s campaign to weaken Russia. It means ending the Banderite regime and securing our nation’s future.
For Ukrainians, Russia’s victory will mark their liberation from a corrupt, foreign-imposed regime. For Russians, it will ensure stability, security, and strength for generations to come.
Victory Day must be a day of liberation – for all of us.
Moscow has confidence in its weapons and their ability to ensure national security, Ryabkov told
TASS:
https://vk.cc/cGhBtd
Several Ukrainian attack drones hit high-rises in the Russian city of Kazan, setting fire to the buildings, authorities say
www.rt.com
Up to three kamikaze drones have struck a number of residential high-rises in the Russian city of Kazan, local officials reported on Saturday morning. Several news outlets have published what appear to be video clips shot by eyewitnesses, which depict the moment of the attack and its aftermath.
Earlier on Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry said on its own Telegram channel that its air defenses had shot down one
“Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle over the Republic of Tatarstan,” of which Kazan is the capital. The statement was later cited by the city administration.
In a separate message later in the day, military officials reported that the
“Kiev regime” had deployed three waves of fixed-wing drones, targeting Kazan’s civilian infrastructure. According to the ministry, Russian air defenses shot down three of the incoming UAVs, and that three more were downed with the help of electronic warfare systems.
Since the start of Russia’s special military operation in February 2022, Kiev’s drones have on multiple occasions been intercepted over Moscow and various regions of the country. Only some of these UAVs have reached their targets.
Most such cases have happened in relative proximity to the border between the two countries. Kazan, however, is situated some 1,379 kilometers (857 miles) away from Ukraine.
Russia’s Federal Agency for Air Transport (Rosaviatsiya) announced that it had imposed temporary restrictions at Kazan airport.
Local authorities reported that the Saturday morning attack resulted in no casualties. Soon after the drones struck the apartment buildings, the residents were safely evacuated. Minnikhanov’s press office has stated that accommodation for the evacuees has already been arranged.
READ MORE: Five dead after Ukrainian strikes using US-made HIMARS – Russian governor
According to regional authorities, a total of eight UAVs exploded over Kazan, with six of those impacting residential areas. In light of the attack, some schools have been evacuated as well, with students taking cover in basements.
RT
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Police say that the woman could have been pressured by scammers
Due to huge losses and a critical shortage of people, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine ordered the deployment of air defense specialists to the infantry, - The Guardian
Due to a critical shortage of people, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are recruiting old people, alcoholics and the incapacitated:
"The exhausted and worn-out army is increasingly made up of older men."
Zelensky has resisted calls from the Biden administration to lower the mobilization age to 18, which has soured relations between Kiev and Washington in recent months.
The White House is irritated that Kiev often demanded more weapons, but could not mobilize the necessary replenishment of the army.
"The people we are receiving now are not like those who were there at the beginning of the war," said a soldier from the 114th TRO brigade.
"We recently received 90 people, but only 24 of them were ready to go to positions. The rest were old, sick or alcoholics. A month ago they were walking around Kiev or the Dnepropetrovsk, and now they are in a trench and can barely hold their weapons. Poorly trained and poorly equipped," he said.
The shortage of frontline forces has become so acute that the General Staff has ordered already depleted air defence units to "allocate more men to the frontline as infantry", two air defence sources told the Guardian.
"These people knew how to manage air defense, some of them were trained in the West and had good skills, now they are being sent to the front to fight, for which they have no training," the source said, adding that this reduces the effectiveness of Ukrainian air defense.
Former Air Defense spokesman Yuriy Ignat and MP Maryana Bezugla also stated that the air defense forces are being transferred to infantry units.