The Ukrainian Lioness Will Defeat Vladimir Putin’s Army

Happy Finnish Mother’s Day to all mothers!

People say that mothers fight for their children like lionesses. In the same way, the Ukrainians have acted by stretching Vladimir Putin’s three-day “special military operation” into a war that has now lasted for more than four years.

As a result, the Russian army had to settle for a rather modest Victory Day parade yesterday. Unlike in previous years, there were no missiles on display — nor even the T-34 tank designed in the 1930s, which was still present in 2023. Perhaps the last of those is already on its way to Ukraine as well?

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In one respect, however, Vladimir Putin may well be right. In his speech, he stated that the war “is moving toward its conclusion, but it nevertheless remains a serious matter.”

Unfortunately for Putin, the war has reached its culmination point, and his army’s offensive has stalled much like Hitler’s forces at Stalingrad in 1942. Nor does the future appear any brighter for him, because Ukrainian technical ingenuity is set to reverse the course of the war: new drones and missiles are already pounding Russia’s arms and oil industries, while armed robots have begun supporting — and when necessary even replacing — Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield.

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Many Russians who have supported Putin up to this point have noticed this as well. But for now, fear of failure has reportedly prevented a coup.

This too is familiar from Hitler’s Germany, where the Austrian corporal remained in power so long that he ultimately chose to end his own life. By then, the Red Army had already reached Berlin, meaning Germany’s defeat in the war had been obvious for quite some time.

Putin’s advantage, of course, is that he ultimately has nuclear missiles at his disposal, and fear of them undoubtedly prevents the Ukrainians from attempting to conquer Russian territory. Thus, he cannot end up in a situation similar to Adolf Hitler’s in 1945 — even though such an outcome would undoubtedly be viewed by many as roughly equally positive for humanity as a whole.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Escalating Threats—and a Touch of Irony
Russia’s Spring Offensive: Gains Unclear, Losses Undeniable
Concern About the Future Is Growing in Russia

Houthi Leaders Risk Their Lives to Cling to Power

Last Thursday, the Israeli armed forces killed Yemen’s Houthi administration Prime Minister Ahmed Ghalib al-Rahawi, Foreign Minister Jamal Amer, and ten other ministers — more than half of Yemen’s government members — in a precise airstrike. Such an outcome is undeniably impressive, and it could not have arisen by chance as if in a fairytale.

In this case too, the strike was preceded by weeks of intelligence gathering involving around 200 military intelligence professionals. The group worked in a secret bunker located in Israel and also included representatives of the United States military.

The actual attack was carried out by Israeli fighter jets just a few hours after the intelligence team had confirmed the meeting place of the Yemeni government. At that moment, the Yemeni ministers had just gathered to listen to the speech of spiritual and military leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi, who, fortunately for him, was speaking via remote connection and thus preserved his life.

For the time being, the broader impact of the successful strike remains uncertain, but it seems that the Houthi administration is trying to hold on to its position. In doing so, its members are taking an enormous risk of another Israeli and U.S. strike, which, if successful, could cost them their lives. In any case, it is clear that the intelligence services of these states will do their utmost to succeed again.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Will Power Change Hands in Iran?
The End of the Holy Soldier of the Arabs
Religious authority and the Iran strike on Israel

Brianna Wu's advice and the reality of Finnish politics

In recent years, Finnish society has become more polarized towards the right and the left than ever before. This is evident in virtually everything, as representatives of these factions seem unable to reach consensus on virtually any domestic political issue, even though the threat posed by Russia has led to foreign policy agreement.

In this respect, Finland increasingly resembles the United States of the 2020s, where parties that were previously able to address essential matters through mutual dialogue have lost their ability to cooperate. This was shockingly evident when some Republican members of Congress delayed the aid Ukraine needed for so long that Russian forces gained the upper hand on the front lines.

Therefore, it was interesting to note Brianna Wu's (Dem) social media post, in which she wrote, "The left learned all the wrong lessons from Donald Trump. We should have learned that if you do nothing about the extremists in your movement, they will take control of your party and you will lose everything. Instead, we told ourselves a comforting lie that half of our fellow Americans were beneath even talking to anymore. We stopped imagining a future where we could even live together. And our political class, hungry for power, let the open wounds fester."

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Finland has a long tradition of excluding democratic parties. In my youth, President Kekkonen, the Center Party, and the Left kept the National Coalition Party out of government, and later all major parties refused to cooperate with the Finns Party to keep it out of the chambers of power.

In Finland, it is also customary for politicians to give speeches on May 1st. This has very long traditions in the political left, but in recent times, actors from the right-wing of politics have also joined in.

Thus, Speaker Jussi Halla-aho (Finns Party) gave a reasonable speech, summarizing the reasons why the government has had to make tough decisions. And reminded us that living beyond our means is irresponsible towards the children who will end up paying the final bill.

Additionally, Halla-aho emphasized the importance of supporting Ukraine. According to him, "Russia is counting on us running out of resolve," so "we cannot afford to tire."

From the other end of the spectrum, opposition leader Antti Lindtman's (Social Democrats) May Day speech hinted at the time of the Finnish Civil War in 1918, suggesting that there are "haters of humanity" among the ministers of one government party. To underscore his confrontational stance, he also used the inaccurate term "Purra's right-wing government" referring to the Minister of Finance, as if the she was the Prime Minister of Finland.

In other words, while the Speaker clarified the reasons behind the government's actions to the public, the opposition leader sought to dehumanize one government party. And thereby, to construct the kind of society that the American Democrat I quoted above warned about in her social media post.

Of course, it's customary in May Day speeches to appeal to one's own voter base, which hopefully explains Lindman's and several other speakers' divisive rhetoric. However, I hope that dialogue improves as we return to everyday life, and that all Finnish politicians from left to right understand that a better society is not built by dehumanizing political rivals but by presenting alternatives and through cooperation between political parties.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Finns are backing the government making difficult decisions
Competence of the political left
Is the Finnish left-wing radicalizing?

Polish Minister for Foreign Affairs reminded Russians about their nightmare

Radosław Sikorski, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Poland, gave an excellent speech at the UN Security Council. In his speech, he pointed out that Ukraine is fighting to be independent of anybody – not only Russia – and has a democratically elected government, including a Jewish president and a Muslim defense minister, and no political prisoners.

He also reminded us that Russia tried to exterminate Ukraine in the 19th century, again under the Bolsheviks, and during the last ten years. He explained that people in Western countries are being threatened almost every day by Putin's propagandists with nuclear annihilation, and therefore causes Russophobia in western countries.

Then he said that we are not denying Russia's security interests, but we only started rearming ourselves when Russia started to invade her neighbors. He reminded us that the Soviet Union attacked Poland together with Nazi Germany and even held a joint Victory Parade in September 1939.

Then he advised Putin's regime to withdraw his troops from Ukraine to the international border and reminded us that there was no coup in Ukraine in 2014. Instead, the former president, Yanukovych, was removed from office by a democratically elected Ukrainian Parliament, including his own party.

He also pointed out that Russia didn't win the Crimean War, the Russo-Japanese War, World War I, the Battle of Warsaw, in Afghanistan, or the Cold War. Fortunately, however, there were reforms in Russia after each failure.

Mr. Sikorski's view is historically correct and should be carefully dispersed, taught and learned in Russia. If that happened, it might finally encourage Russians – with the greatest natural resources in the world as well as relatively well educated and talented people – to change their political attitude now directed towards the rest of the world and become a superpower with economic, spiritual, and civilized culture instead of the nightmare they have lived for at least half a millennium since the Tsardom of Moscow was established.

Previous thoughts on the same topic: Desperate cry of Russians Victims of Russian leaders Should Putin´s regime be overthrown by supporting Russian opposition?