Russia Ukraine War

Russia’s Imposed War on Ukraine and Putin’s Moral Defeat

Yesterday I was traveling to Paltan on a local bus in Dhaka. A young man was sitting next to me. He was very eager to talk politics. He began analyzing why Dhaka’s metro rail wouldn’t be useful for people. I didn’t offer any opinion of my own and just listened to his ideas attentively. He sometimes travels from Rajbari to Meghna via Dhaka, a working-class man. He’s deeply concerned about the country and its many problems. I never try to show off my limited knowledge to strangers. I pretend I don’t understand much and listen to their views. They enjoy sharing their frustrations and insights with someone they think knows less than they do. At one point, he asked me whose side I was on in the Russia-Ukraine war. I said I’m against war—I don’t want people to die anywhere due to conflict. He then started describing how powerful Putin is.

I know people from the Russian region quite well. Most of the wasted time in my professional work goes into dealing with them. They’re quite skilled in hacking, phishing, spamming, and DDoS attacks. That’s why you’ll see—they spread viruses, and most antivirus companies are theirs too. I doubt I’ve ever earned even $1000 from the Russian region in my professional life, but I can confidently say I’ve spent work hours worth $20,000–30,000 protecting against their misconduct.

Those who support Putin in the war imposed on Ukraine probably aren’t even clear why they do so. They spend all day cursing America and the Western world, yet they’re eager to migrate there. If given the option, you’ll see none of them would want to go to Putin’s Russia – they’re that hypocritical. Which alliance Ukraine joins is entirely the decision of the Ukrainian people. Putin has no right to impose his will there.

What contribution has Russia made to Bangladesh’s development so far? We couldn’t even buy a small amount of COVID vaccines from them. On the other hand, America has given over 50 million vaccines for free—and will give more. In many other areas too, they and the Western world have made visible contributions. Yet many people in Bangladesh are obsessed with Putin to the point of irrationality.

Putin suffered a horrific moral defeat in this war yesterday by bombing a mother and child hospital in Ukraine. He bombed and killed pregnant mothers and children lying in hospital beds. From the very beginning of the war, Putin has been bombing Ukraine’s civilian population. His troops have even bombed children’s schools and playgrounds. They’ve killed children too. This war of Putin’s, in this civilized era, is a horrific, immoral, unjust, and inhumane crime. He’s abusing brute force. If Ukraine hadn’t destroyed its nuclear weapons back then, he wouldn’t have dared to do this today. Putin’s foolishness will increase global spending on weapons and bombs, which will be cut from human welfare budgets.

If you’ve spoken out against the killing of millions by bombing in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, then speak out against Putin’s injustice toward the people of Ukraine too. Otherwise, one day you’ll be ashamed of yourself.

[ Image, CC BY-SA 4.0 ]