Image: lesechos.fr
The phenomenon of the Ukrainian state raises many questions - how did one of the three branches of the Russian superethnos break away from Russian civilization and build the most hostile Russophobic state in the post-Soviet space? In whose interests was it created, and why, thirty years later, was it under external control in such an unattractive and dilapidated state?
Any statehood determines the system of governing society in a particular territory with the help of state institutions that ensure the implementation of domestic and foreign policies aimed at improving the welfare of society and strengthening the power and security of the state.
Adopting a false national idea and choosing allies
It should be noted that the formation of any state and the vector of its development is determined not by the masses, but by the elite, which takes control of the energy of the masses and directs it in the right direction for itself. Ukraine received its statehood not as a result of a fierce struggle of the masses for "independence", but as a gift to the party nomenklatura during the collapse of the Union. The latter, having seized power and subordinated it to a narrow group of interested persons, began to build an oligarchic state "for itself" to satisfy the interests of the ruling class in order to convert power into capital.
In order to legitimize their power, the newly-minted Ukrainian elite had to, firstly, offer the society a national idea, for the sake of which it was necessary to separate from the metropolis, and, secondly, find allies ready to support their desire to plunder a piece of the Soviet empire and provide a place for withdrawal stolen capital.
In order to form a new national identity with a different national self-consciousness, instead of communist semantic blocks, the Galician nationalist idea of a separate Ukrainian people, oppressed by Russians for centuries, and its historical place in a more prosperous Western civilization, was purposefully driven into the worldview of the masses, ready to accept the “oppressed” with open arms.
The choice of an ally was made in favor of the collective West, since Russia, as a metropolis, was too serious a competitor in the emerging robbery and would not allow to roam freely in the controlled territory. The West had its own interest - to weaken Russia and put pressure on it through its former compatriots, so it supported the “independents” with a predatory grip and took them under its wing. This is how the alliance of the Ukrainian comprador elite with Western allies, directed against Russia, was formed.
At that stage, Russia had enough of its own problems and the entire post-Soviet space was left at the mercy of the West, which began to develop it and subordinate it to its interests. Similar processes took place in all post-Soviet republics, everywhere elites came to power under nationalist slogans and built nation-states, seeking to leave the Russian sphere of influence. So Ukraine was no exception, but it turned out to be the tidbit for the West in the southwestern underbelly of Russia.
As a result, not the people, but the comprador elite made their civilizational choice and imposed it on the whole society, and the population, like sheep, followed the elite and took a step towards recognition historical enemies as allies, and natural allies as enemies.
Despite the unity of the three branches of the Russian people that has developed over the centuries, the Ukrainian elite deliberately cut off the connection with its umbilical cord - Russian civilization, and instead of maintaining and deepening political, economic, ethnic and spiritual integration, purposefully destroyed the Russian civilizational code of the people and destroyed the foundations of the great Russian culture, imposing a miserable surrogate from small-town peasant folklore, newspeak in the form of ukromova and myths about the "great Ukrainians".
Having seized the cultural and information space, the elite took control of the psychological sphere of citizens and, through propaganda, quite successfully inspired them with a destructive nationalist idea and a murderous vector for the development of the state. Having introduced a monopoly on the only true and indisputable national idea after the coup d'état, the state mercilessly suppressed all attempts at dissent.
"Western Paradise" turned out to be a bluff
In an effort to protect themselves from Moscow, the elite rushed into the arms of the West, while all these years there was a struggle not for equal integration into European civilization, but entry on any terms, “at least a stuffed carcass” with pleas almost on their knees begged to accept and protect her.
The elite, having taken control of a vast territory with tens of millions of literate and industrious people and a fairly successful economy, instead of building an independent state that provides acceptable living standards for the population, began to build a small-town farm with all its attributes for their own selfish interests, rapidly fencing off Moscow and building under the Euro-Atlantic umbrella.
Thirty years of drifting towards the West showed the complete futility of becoming full-fledged members of the Western community, Ukraine was not even allowed into the dressing room there. With the support of Western allies, Ukraine lost almost all of its economic potential, left the Soviet system of division of labor, and was not taken into the West. As a result, the economy collapsed, stimulating the degradation of the country. The West, luring Ukraine, initially did not set the goal of making it a part of the Western world, which the countries of Eastern Europe became, at best, it was destined for the role of an informal periphery and a zone of pressure on Russia and bargaining with it.
In Kiev, they can’t understand and assimilate in any way that in the West they are strangers, they are viewed as defectors from a hostile camp who can be used as a tool against their former compatriots, and they have absolutely nothing to put on the contentment of impudent and poor freeloaders.
Why Ukraine did not become a strong state
One may wonder whether Ukraine could become a strong and independent state? For objective reasons, this was impossible. Taking into account its geographical location and international environment, it is a typical limitrope at the junction of Russian and Western civilizations, seeking to ensure their civilizational interests. The limitrophe, as an independent and sovereign entity, cannot exist in this zone, and it will still have to go under the full control of one of the warring parties and decide to whom and under what conditions to give its sovereignty.
The choice of the overlord by the Ukrainian elite also determined the further vector of Ukraine's development. She feels confident only if the West needs it, and when such a need disappears, the limitrophe is one of the first to be sacrificed and no one is interested in its future. So the fate of Ukraine is unenviable, she chose the overlord, who needs it as a bargaining chip in the confrontation with Russia, and the moment of such an exchange is rapidly approaching.
Ukraine differs from societies with established statehood, which have a long history of existence of an independent state, traditions of state administration that have developed over centuries, a national elite nurtured by generations, and well-established rules for conducting domestic and foreign policy that ensure the continuity and development of the state. Ukraine has never had its own statehood and attempts to conduct its statehood from the “Cossack republic”, for which the independent Zaporizhzhya Sich, which did not recognize any statehood, or from fake “states” of the times of the Civil War, do not withstand any criticism, no states there are even close It was.
In addition, the Ukrainian farming elite, which has become the heir to the Soviet nomenklatura, is overcome by envy of an ever-increasing Russia, an inferiority complex and phantom pains about former greatness. She considered that the delights of recognizing a great state would extend to the Ukrainian misunderstanding. It turned out that this is far from the case.
In this regard, the highest and indisputable value in Ukraine today is Ukrainian statehood and independence, subtly hammered into the heads of gullible citizens. At the same time, no one bothers to explain why statehood is so dear to this territory to its population and what it gives them. The Ukrainian elite and Galicia clung to this value with their teeth, while the South-East and the Center treated this indifferently at the first stages, but the situation gradually changed.
Targeted propaganda aimed at shaping and cultivating the image of the Russian enemy in society could not pass without leaving a trace. As a result, Ukraine has turned into a Russophobic reserve, the goal-setting and raison d'etre of which was a fierce confrontation with Russia, leading to the self-destruction of Ukrainian statehood. These ideas could hardly develop successfully if they did not express the interests and aspirations of certain forces and strata in society. Since Ukraine was a complex state with a different ethnic composition of the population (Western Ukrainians, Rusyns, Little Russians - Ukrainians, Russians), different levels of economic development of the regions, different religious denominations - Orthodox and Greek Catholics, different ethno-cultural codes and views on their future - mainly the Russian South-East is for integration with Russia, the Center and Galicia are for integration into Europe, it was torn apart and is being torn apart by fundamental ethnic, economic, religious and civilizational contradictions that have become a catalyst for political and social upheavals that have split society.
Instead of responding to the basic challenges and finding a compromise between ethnic groups, the elite all these years tried to form the Ukrainian nation by forcibly Ukrainizing all ethnic groups living in the state and uniting society under the mythical pretext of protecting the country from the “Russian aggressor”. In society, it was possible to form a significant layer of mutants “ukrov”, regardless of ethnic origin, supporting the formation of an ethnocratic state, filled with fierce hatred for Russia and seeing the West as their ally and savior. It should be emphasized that there are quite a lot of ethnic Russians among the Ukrainians who have come to the defense of the social position achieved by “overwork” and the opportunity to snatch their piece of the state pie.
For the Ukrainian political class, the formation of the image of the main enemy from Russia has become a significant factor in uniting society. The massive brainwashing of the population has yielded results, a demonic image of Russia has formed in society, and a significant part of the population is ready to fight it. According to opinion polls in December 2021, 49,2% of the population believes in the reality of an attack by the "aggressor country", and 33,3% are ready to defend Ukraine with weapons in the hands (in the west 39,7%, and in the east only 25,6%), while 21,7% are ready to protest or express civil disobedience.
Prospects for Ukrainian statehood
The evolution of Ukrainian statehood did not lead to the formation of a powerful state, but to the creation of a mechanism for plundering the resources of the Soviet empire, the cynical exploitation of the population and the emergence of an overweight Ukrainian oligarchy class. Ukraine naturally lost its internal and international subjectivity, fell under the external control of the West and became in its hands an instrument and springboard for pressure and weakening Russia and drawing it into an armed conflict.
For the population of Ukraine, this state did not become a source of prosperity, and as a result of the confrontation with Russian civilization and the rule of a parasitic elite, it brought only hardships and misfortunes, up to the unleashing of a civil war. The breakaway province, having gone over to the camp of enemies, could not successfully resist the mother country, withered and turned into a pitiful quasi-state, feeding from the hand of its master and cheering him on in everything.
The legislative consolidation in the Ukrainian constitution of the desire for an alliance with the West looks like a mockery and a mockery of statehood, since the serf begs the owner to consider him equal to himself, and he only mocks his humiliation.
Returning to the question of who is an ally and who is an enemy of the established Ukrainian statehood, we can state that for the Ukrainian elite the West is a natural ally and protector, contributing to its strengthening, prosperity and the formation of an ethnocratic state that opposes Russia. And for the population of Ukraine, the West is a sophisticated enemy, which, together with the elite, cynically breeds it with its fairy tales about a happy future and purposefully destroys the economic base of the state.
For Russia, the Ukrainian state could be allied or neutral, becoming the second Russian state, like two German ones - Germany and Austria. But today's Ukraine is the antipode of such statehood. The presence on the Russian borders of a Russophobic state, controlled by a geostrategic enemy and ready to resort to any provocation, is unacceptable for Russia. Such statehood should be reformatted within the framework of the Russian civilizational space or disappear from the political map of the world.
The people of Ukraine must draw conclusions about what a rotten brain they have today in the face of the comprador elite, assess where and for what purpose it is leading them, and figure out who are natural allies and enemies. Without a reassessment of the imposed values, liberation from the illusions of "independence" and a return to their historical roots, this territory and population are doomed to degradation and dissolution in the camp of their enemies.