Balkan Witness: Ukraine

The Ukraine War:
Misperceptions on the Left

1. The present situation
2. The Left
3. Voices from Ukraine, and Russian dissidents
4. Historical background
    The role of NATO expansion
5. Ivan Ilyin, Putin’s ideological hero
6. How you can support Ukraine

INTRODUCTION

BALKAN WITNESS was created in 1999 to report on the Serb-nationalist attack on the people of Kosovo. The founders are longtime progressive activists, veterans of opposition to aggressive US wars. And in the case of ex-Yugoslavia, and the war in Ukraine, we are also opponents of the expansionist aggression of other nations.

Since the beginning of the Kosovo war, we were dismayed by the lack of support among some Western progressives for the victims of that war, and even outright ideological sympathy with the aggressors. We refuted in great detail the misrepresentations by Serbian nationalists and their western supporters.

Some on the Left engaged in a comparable syndrome with respect to Syria and the catastrophic crimes of the Assad forces.

Now comes the war in Ukraine. Putin's invasion is front-page news for months, and Russian crimes are in plain sight for all to see and understand. Yet denial, and support for the war criminals' aims, are still to be found in parts of the Western Left. This experience has a clarifying effect: it is not a matter of lack of information, or confusion about what is happening; it is ideological. Parts of the Left are infected with a case of "the enemy of the enemy is our friend." Their anti-imperialism extends only so far as the door. They haven't been able to take a stand against empire builders elsewhere. Not only Serbian expansionists, but Russian and Chinese as well, have committed war crimes in service of their own regional objectives.

Meanwhile, we find some Leftists blaming possible expansion of NATO to include Ukraine. It didn’t matter to them that NATO expansion was driven more by the East Europeans than by Washington, which was originally quite divided on the matter. Nor did it matter that NATO membership for Ukraine was hardly imminent, or that in no scenario was a NATO attack on Russia imaginable.

Leftist Commentary that is unsupportive of Ukraine comes in two general categories:

The hard position is that Russia is part of a global alliance against US imperialism and therefore it should be supported uncritically. This reflects the attitude that regional fascist movements are worthy of the Left's support if they are anti-US. For responses to that below, see the Truthout article by Fletcher & Davidson, as well as the White Russian empire piece: Russia is part of a global authoritarian, neo-fascist movement.

More prevalent is the soft position, promoted by Noam Chomsky and others: Yes the invasion is inexcusable, one of the major war crimes of the 21st century, but the real problem is NATO. All the emotional firepower is directed at the US. Many of the pieces below do a good job of critiquing that position. That nations might prefer NATO to Russia is a demonstration of how bad the Russian government is. As this critique of the Stephen F. Cohen piece suggests, while Germany was badly treated by the Treaty of Versailles, that was no excuse for Hitler's imperial expansionism.

Time and again, the Western Left has responded to the critique of Russia by mentioning US aggression against Afghanistan, Iraq, and other states. The argument should be that, in 2003, other governments did not put enough pressure on the United States over Iraq. Not that it is necessary to exert less pressure on Russia over Ukraine now. --Taras Bilous, A Letter to the Western Left from Kyiv

Progressives worldwide should be defined by alliance with the victims - not by justifications for the conquerors. To build lasting peace, and to confront the reality of the climate crisis in time, we need international cooperation, not war. For peace, for human rights, and for climate justice, we need an end to the crimes and oppression perpetrated by violent dictators like Putin.

On these pages we present, in several sections, a factual and political basis for an improved understanding of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. We include direct reports from those victimized, who we should be allied with.

Every person, whoever and wherever they are, has the right to live in peace and free from oppression. Today, it must be a worldwide priority to protect the lives and livelihoods of Ukrainians, end Putin’s aggression, and restore peace, democracy, and human rights. We make this a priority because Russia under Putin is a leader in the worldwide trend toward authoritarian regimes. Those countries that allow relative freedom must stand up to Russia's aggression and authoritarianism.

Tomorrow, we need to hold those guilty of this war crime accountable.

1. The present situation
2. The Left
3. Voices from Ukraine, and Russian dissidents
4. Historical background
    The role of NATO expansion
5. Ivan Ilyin, Putin’s ideological hero
6. How you can support Ukraine
7. Peter Lippman's reports from Ukraine October 2023

You can follow local reliable reporting about Russia’s invasion on Ukraine at:
Kyiv Independent     New Voice of Ukraine     Ukraine Crisis Media Center

Subscribe to Prof. Timothy Snyder's informative updates (Free, or donation)

NEW The Weak Strongman Trump, Impotence, and Unfreedom By Timothy Snyder, February 13, 2025
Peter Lippman's reports from Ukraine October 2023

In the end, Prigozhin told the truth about the war
Putin's motives for war: it had nothing to do with NATO enlargement or Ukrainian aggression, and was simply a matter of wishing to dominate Ukraine, replace its regime with a Moscow-friendly politician (Viktor Medvedchuk), and then seize its resources and to satisfy the Russian elite.

Timothy Snyder: Yale lecture series (archived)
"The Making of Modern Ukraine," 46 minutes. Twice weekly, September through November 2022
Highly recommended

Review of Medea Benjamin's book in detail (Transcript) By Bill Weinberg, CounterVortex, December 9, 2022

Parts of the Left are speaking the same language that tyrants do By Kavita Krishnan, February 25, 2023

Ukraine Solidarity Network-US
It's "Ukraine," not "the Ukraine" - here's why
Additional references

How you can support Ukraine

Contribute to Ukraine TrustChain. Its teams provide urgent food, medical supplies, and rides to safety. See the group's Weekly Reports.

Donate to support humanitarian aid. If you can, consider supporting a group working to offer medical, material, and humanitarian aid to people in Ukraine, and to people fleeing the Russian invasion and seeking refuge in neighboring countries. Thirty verified ways to contribute financially are listed on this resource page by Global Citizen.
Come Back Alive, a Ukrainian NGO that supports soldiers on the battlefield and veterans
United 24, the Ukrainian state platform for donations, with many excellent projects

RAZOM, a US NGO, which cooperates with Ukrainian NGOs to support civilians; tax-deductible for US taxpayers

Documenting Ukraine, a project run by Timothy Snyder that helps to give Ukrainians a voice; tax-deductible for US taxpayers