West has to stand up to modern-day Hitler in Putin but sad reality is Ukraine stands alone
THE monster has unleashed his demons.
After weeks of bullying and posturing, Vladimir Putin, the modern-day Hitler, attacked sovereign Ukraine early yesterday unleashing a war of the scale Europe has not seen since the darkest days of World War II.
Russian troops invaded on all fronts — striking from the east, south, north and west.
Explosions at dawn heralded the beginning of war. The first Russian strikes were aimed at key Ukrainian military installations.
But ground forces were soon pouring in to engage Ukrainian troops wherever they could be found.
The cradle of Ukrainian civilisation, capital, Kyiv came under sustained attack too.
Russian troops entered the outskirts of Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv from the north east, engaging Ukrainian defences in battle.
Further north, Russian forces and tanks rolled in from Belarus, where at least 30,000 troops had been massing for weeks. Their goal, the capital, just 140km south of the border.
Putin’s Belarusian lickspittle, Alexander Lukashenko, promised to help his puppet master in his warmongering.
Reports of casualties, both military and civilian, mounted with each passing minute.
Russian forces also entered Ukraine from occupied Crimea, moving to take the strategically-important city of Mariupol on the Black Sea.
The aim: to link Crimea with the rebel-held eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.
Hours before sending his forces into Ukraine, Putin gave a terrifying TV address in which he threatened not only Ukraine, but anyone who would dare to confront him.
He ranted, clearly unhinged: “Whoever tries to interfere with us or threatens our country should know that Russia’s response will be immediate and will lead to such consequences that have never been experienced in history.”
A veiled threat to use nuclear weapons.
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky declared martial law and opened the country’s armouries to anyone willing to fight the invaders, adding: “Do not panic. We are strong. We are ready for anything. We will defeat everyone because we are Ukraine.”
Despite that, tens of thousands were fleeing towards sanctuary in the west from all directions.
Poland was hastily erecting encampments to accommodate the expected influx of war refugees.
The West, which meekly appeased Putin throughout his tyranny, talked tough, vowing to impose crippling sanctions.
But the sad reality is that Ukraine stands alone. Ukraine is not part of NATO therefore it’s not compelled to defend her.
The EU too won’t move militarily to help either. Neither will the US intervene, save to send weapons so the Ukrainians can defend themselves.
Putin knows all of this. That’s why he moved with such relentless barbarity yesterday.
What will transpire in Ukraine over the coming weeks and months will be a tragedy it will have to endure on its own.
Sanctions alone won’t stop Putin. Only Western military intervention will.
Talk is cheap. Only by fighting will Russia be comprehensively defeated and Putin’s regime brought to heel.
OUR DUTY TO SEVER CASH TIES
BETWEEN 2005 and 2017, €118billion was channelled from Ireland to Russia, a Trinity College research paper revealed this week.
Companies based in Dublin’s International Financial Services Centre raised money for some of Russia’s biggest state-backed companies and Putin oligarchs, using section 110 of the tax code, which while compliant with our laws, allowed these people to benefit financially.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin has a moral duty now to stop wealthy Putin cronies using Ireland to further enrich themselves.
Compel all financial institutions that operate in Ireland to no longer deal with Putin’s friends.
Not only that, but Ireland should act in concert with Ukraine and sever all diplomatic ties with Russia.
It must become a pariah state now.
And Ireland has a duty to help in crippling the Russian economy, so Putin and his gang of thieves have nowhere left to turn other than against each other.
The Taoiseach has condemned Russia’s invasion, telling protestors outside the Russian embassy that Ireland was ‘disgusted’ by Putin’s declaration of war and that he would try to ‘do everything to help them’.
Well, the first thing he should do is cut off all diplomatic relations with the aggressor and also go after Russian money wherever it is hidden in Ireland.
Words are not enough.
PUTIN'S RIDDLED WITH INSECURITY
VLADIMIR Putin likes to appear tough, but deep down he is riddled with insecurity.
How else can you explain his constructing of state-of-the-art disinfection tunnels at his main Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow and at the Kremlin?
All guests must travel through the tunnels to be doused with a mist of antibacterial solution before meeting him, so terrified is he of catching Covid-19.
He has also spent long periods in isolation at his dacha, owned by cronies.
And earlier this week in meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron he insisted he sit 30 metres from him.
The tough man is a coward too. How apt.
NAVALNY'S WORDS
PUTIN’S greatest political threat at home, Alexei Navalny, who he poisoned and jailed on trumped-up charges, was quick to condemn the invasion of Ukraine.
Navalny said: “The war with Ukraine has been unleashed to cover up the robbery of Russian citizens and divert their attention away from the country’s internal problems, from the degradation of its economy.
“Thanks to Putin, hundreds of Ukrainians and Russian citizens may die now, and in the future, this number may reach tens of thousands.
"Yes, he will not allow Ukraine to develop, he will drag it into the swamp, but Russia will pay the same price.”
BALLSY DECISION BY UEFA
RUSSIA must be banned from all international sporting competitions with immediate effect.
The International Olympic Committee bowed miserably to Russia for years despite its state-sponsored doping system, allowing Russian athletes to compete at the Olympics.
That farce should end forthwith.
Also, football has a huge responsibility to sever all ties with Russia and its cronies, who have filtered their billions, stolen from the Russian people with the complicity of Putin and then wash it in the beautiful game.
UEFA acted immediately to move the Champions League final in May from St Petersburg, Putin’s birthplace.
Unlike the IOC, UEFA has gumption, at least.
EMBASSY PROTEST SEES RED
THERE are around 4,000 Ukrainians living in Ireland.
Some of them vented their anger at the invasion of their homeland outside the Russian embassy in Dublin yesterday.
Red paint was thrown at the two-headed Russian eagle that adorns the embassy gates.
The fury of Ukrainian people, not just here, but throughout the world, is visceral and understandable. We should all stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them in their hour of need.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Ireland, Larysa Gerasko, has said that many Ukrainian-Irish will return home to fight the Russian aggression.
She said: “I’m so emotional. I’m really shocked actually. . . it’s hard to believe that it happened in the 21st century.”
EXODUS WILL TEST US ALL
UKRAINE was gripped by fear and panic yesterday as Russia invaded.
Tens of thousands took to their cars in Kyiv, clogging all roads leading west to refuge in Poland.
Read more on the Irish Sun
Their journey would be a perilous one, with Russian jets continuing to bombard towns and cities throughout Ukraine all day, including the western city of Lviv which lies just 70km from the Polish frontier.
The European Union spoke of unity being its best strength, but that unity will come under huge pressure in the days and months ahead as Ukrainians flood west.
