Day of national impotence
If you think about it, everything that is happening now is the greatest Russian national humiliation. And no, I'm not talking about the fact that the whole world now considers us cannibals and not about the horrors that are happening now in Ukraine. A little about something else. Previously, it seemed to us that the last word in the fight against the Russian regime would be spoken by Russian society. Yes, maybe not today or even the day after tomorrow, but someday it will be us, the Russians, who will defeat the toad and create a new Russian society. After February 24, this vague hope disappeared. It became clear that the fate of Russia is decided not here, but there. The locus of control has completely shifted to the other side of the border. It is near Kharkov, near Kyiv, in many small Ukrainian towns, the names of which we did not know, but now we learned from the news reports. The fate of Russia is decided not by Russians, but by Ukrainians, even if they do not want it at all.
Medinsky is absolutely right when he says that in this special operation, which is by no means a war, "the fate of Russia" is at stake. The fate of THEIR Russia is really at stake. Russia of torture and paddy wagons, Russia of sycophants and propagandists. If today they get something that can be sold to society as a "political victory", they will be able to mothball the regime for years, turning a rapidly impoverished and embittered country into a military camp. But, if there is no political victory, the whole depth of the abyss into which the regime has led the country will be exposed - we will have a chance for reforms and renewal (as was the case after the Crimean special operation, the Russian-Japanese special operation, etc.). But again - it does not depend on us. Now the fate of Russia is no longer decided near Kharkov and Kyiv, but in Mariupol. If you remove the intermediate links, the fate of Russia now hangs at the muzzle of the machine gun of the boys from "Azov" (would they be surprised).
Those people who went out to the anti-war protests are, of course, heroes. But, alas, they packed 15 thousand, they would have packed both 30 and 50 - we don’t see a shortage of manpower on these fronts, here the borders of the motherland are reliably protected. Therefore, a feeling of powerlessness is in the air. And people are running not only from the state, but from this oppressive feeling. It's funny that this lack of agency is experienced not only by opponents of the regime, but also by loyalists. Those who jumped out of their pants, trying to arrange a march in support of the army, but received from the authorities the expected zalupka on the collar. Now they all howl in unison about the insidious "betrayal" in the negotiations. Of course, they will not come out to uncoordinated actions (any schoolgirl who went to Navalny’s rallies is more courageous than this rabble), but they sublimate their impotence in the night war with the doors and porches of opposition activists, not realizing that they are experiencing the same emotions that these activists. Others try to engage in humanitarian assistance and the like - activities are more positive, but the same substitute.
In general, February 24th is our National Powerlessness Day. Ukrainians, after everything they have experienced, will be able to say "we" for decades: "we have survived, we have endured, we are a nation." What about us? What kind of "we"? I'm here alone, as they say.
Mihail Pojarsky 2022-03-30
