Hysteria around “Putin’s invasion” and the role of “patriotic” confessions

Recently, Ukraine has been living on hot coals, with reports coming from all sides that Russia is about to invade our country to start a full-scale war. Invasion maps are published, specific dates are called (which are constantly shifting).

Investors withdraw funds, the national currency falls, mayors check the condition of bomb shelters, people live in a state of fear and uncertainty. But since the beginning of 2022, the information chaos began to gradually take shape: it became clear that messages about the “invasion” were produced by Western politicians and the media, while the Ukrainian authorities said the opposite – that the situation on the borders was stable and there was no "imminent" danger of a war. According to their stance, those who talk about the “invasion” are working against Ukraine, since their messages:

• do not correspond to reality;
• cause fear, uncertainty and panic among the population and investors, which has quite predictable consequences.

In this situation, a lot of "invasion" rhetoric from Catholics, Uniates, Phanariotes and representatives of the OCU acquire unexpected and not at all patriotic hues. 

What Western politicians and media say

In order for Ukrainians who read Western media reports about Ukraine not to immediately panic, they must have a very strong nervous system. Here are only some telling examples from the West media space.

The head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley: “If all that (Russian troops – Ed.) was unleashed on Ukraine, it would be significant, very significant, and it would result in a significant number of casualties. Fighting in dense urban areas, along highways and so on would be horrific. It would be terrible."

Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary: “This brings us back to 2014, including sabotage and information operations accusing Ukraine of preparing imminent attacks on Russian forces in eastern Ukraine and Russian military plans to begin such activity in the weeks before the military invasion, which may begin between mid-January and mid-February.”

John Kirby, Pentagon spokesman: "Without going into much detail, we have information that shows that Russia is now actively working to create a pretext for a potential invasion, advance into Ukraine."

American officials and overseas media are not lagging behind. Without any scruples, they are whipping up panic by hook or by crook.

For example, on January 30, 2022, The Sun English edition published an article stating that even children prepare to defend Ukraine from the Russian invasion.

According to the article, a survey by the Kyiv Institute of Sociology showed that half of the country would resist the Russian invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin pulled 127,000 military personnel, as well as tanks and missiles, to the border with Ukraine.

The New York Times published rather hurtful words of King's College London professor and US Marine Corps veteran Robert Lee, in whose opinion, if Russia really wants to use their weapons, they can do massive damage in a very short period of time and destroy the Ukrainian army in the east very quickly, within the first 30-40 minutes.

Back in December 2021, BILD reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin was preparing to seize about two-thirds of Ukrainian territory in early 2022 and even drew a map of the invasion.

At the same time, BILD described the horrors of the coming war as follows: “First of all, they (Russian troops – Ed.) will surround cities and cut off electricity, gas and food supplies.”

The Washington Post reported that 175,000 troops would take part in Russia's massive military offensive against Ukraine, and also cited its map.

It is small wonder that after such materials, an ordinary Ukrainian begins to experience fear and uncertainty about the future. However, the Ukrainian authorities say something completely different.

Statements of "invasion" from the Ukrainian authorities

For the whole of December, the Ukrainian authorities did not give any comments on a “hot-button” issue, but then, apparently, they realized what an unenviable role their patrons from across the ocean had prepared for them. So they desperately began to resist the prospect of the collapse of the economy at least, and at the very least – of being drawn into a war with catastrophic consequences.

Almost unanimously, the leadership of Ukraine declared that there was no danger of an “invasion” and even dared to criticize the United States for escalating the situation.

President V. Zelensky: “Now they are actively attacking your nerves , rather than our land, so that you have a constant feeling of commotion” (video message dated January 19, 2022).

“The White House understands that there are risks, they constantly talk about it, they constantly fuel this issue and make much of a fuss about it. In my opinion, this is a mistake <…> Signals come even from respected Heads of State, who are already openly, non-diplomatically, assert that tomorrow we will have a war. In England, Germany, France, Lithuania, the mass media give the impression that we are at war, we have troops moving along the roads, we are mobilizing. But this is not so. We do not need this panic” (press conference on January 28, 2022).

Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) A. Danilov: “Today we do not see any grounds for asserting today about a full-scale attack on our country. It's impossible even physically."

Minister of Foreign Affairs D. Kuleba: "We call on foreign partners to refrain from taking steps in the public space that aggravate the information field and undermine society."

MP David Arakhamia, head of the Servant of the People faction: “It seems to me that most people saw that three, four, five ‘exact dates’ had already passed, and realized that this was just intimidation of people and an attempt to sow panic. I don’t know the real reasons why the US is doing this, but it definitely doesn’t work for the benefit of the Ukrainian economy.”

“The US and others are spreading panic about the attack on Ukraine. This is not a friendly move."

Defense Minister A. Reznikov: “As of today, the fact that we observe according to our intelligence data, the fact that the intelligence of our partner countries observe, is approximately similar to the same situation that was in the spring of last year, before Easter. Therefore, today, as of now, not a single strike group has been created by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to indicate that tomorrow they will go on the offensive."

In an interview with the Left Bank edition of January 31, 2022, A. Reznikov rejected the possibility of mobilization, which would be logical if the threat of invasion was real: “There is no need for mobilization now from the point of view of the threat. If we announce a training mobilization, it will cause panic in the streets. Everyone will think that we knew and hid that the enemy would attack tomorrow.”

President V. Zelensky cited the figure of $12.5 billion, which was withdrawn from Ukraine due to panic. Ukrainian Foreign Minister D. Kuleba, in an interview with the Vice American edition, spoke about the damage to the country's economy due to "escalation" reports: "We are now affected economically and becoming weaker due to the growing panic in society."

On which side are Catholics, Uniates and Phanariots?

From the second half of January 2022, the choir of Western media “prophesying” an imminent war to Ukrainians was powerfully joined by Catholics and Uniates, who were later accompanied by Patriarch Bartholomew, the Phanariots in the USA, as well as the OCU.

On January 21, the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Europe, consisting of 33 Catholic hierarchs, stated that "the entire international community interprets the actions of the Russian armed forces as a real threat to peace" and called on "the international community to support Ukraine in the face of the danger of a Russian military offensive." Catholics also said they were supporting Ukrainians "in this period of fear and uncertainty." Moreover, it even looked funny, because just the day before, Vladimir Zelensky called the narrative about the Russian attack "fakes and horror stories."

The next day, the Uniate bishops in the United States published their message, in which they reported clearly fake information that “during the Christmas time, Russia deployed more than 100,000 of its troops on the borders with Ukraine” (recall, our authorities claim that the number of Russian troops has not changed over the year ). Then reports of the "invasion" from the Catholics fell fast and furious. Soon Sergei Dumenko also joined this militaristic choir.

On January 24, 2022, he published his appeal to the people, which said: “Dear brothers and sisters! The accumulation of Russian troops on the borders of our state, the dissemination of information about the plans of the aggressor to launch an invasion, other hostile statements and actions of the leaders of Russia require our response. <...> We are sincerely grateful to America, the countries of Europe and all our allies in the world for their support, diplomatic, economic and military assistance <...> For the Ukrainian people, the words of the national anthem ‘we will lay down our soul and body for our freedom’ are not an empty phrase, but a deep conviction, affirmed by centuries of struggle for their own independent conciliar state.”

This appeal was voiced on January 30, 2022 in all the temples of the OCU, and on the same day S. Dumenko blessed "to offer additional special prayers for our Motherland", which, in particular, said: "May Your will be done, Lord, over us and if Your Providence is that our warriors put their souls in the battle for the Faith and Ukraine, then forgive them their sins ..." It is very reminiscent of the Catholic indulgence issued by the Pope in the Middle Ages, as well as the assertion that a Muslim who died during jihad immediately goes to heaven.

The head of the UGCC, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, calling on January 26, 2022 to join the prayer for peace announced by the Pope, said: “Why do we need to pray for peace in Ukraine today? When new dangers arise and the enemy is on the threshold, our military check their combat readiness, statesmen work to streamline social mechanisms, diplomats work to ensure that world supports our people and state."

At first glance, very beautiful words. But, in fact, it is the same escalation of panic: “the enemy is on the threshold”, “the military is checking their combat readiness”, and so on. And if we recall the militant rhetoric of Sviatoslav Shevchuk of the recent past, when he declared, for example, that “without a doubt, the war cannot end in peace at any cost” and that “only those who think how to save their own skin are tired of the war,” then everything falls into place.

Unfortunately, the “patriotic” (as they call themselves) discourse of the OCU and UGCC testify that in the information confrontation between the authorities and the West, they work for the latter despite the fact that the buildup of hysteria is clearly not good for Ukraine and, obviously, undermines the national economy.

Will Russia attack or not?

None of the most active loudmouths about Russian aggression has yet answered one simple question: why would Russia attack Ukraine? What tasks can it solve in this way? Any sane political expert will say that today Russia will get much more headache from the invasion than gains. Russian diplomats have directly and clearly stated that a tough response (note, not even an invasion) can follow in two cases:

• Ukraine's accession to NATO and the deployment of offensive weapons on its territory that threaten the Russian Federation;
• provocations in the Donbas or elsewhere.

In addition to these cases, Russia has absolutely no reason not only to invade Ukraine, but also to apply, as they say now, technical and military measures.

From the above list, the deployment of offensive weapons in Ukraine capable of inflicting unacceptable damage to Russia is basically possible, but this is definitely not a matter of the coming months. The “invasion” of Russia is expected to begin just about now, if not today, then tomorrow. Previously, even the dates were called: after the New Year, the end of January. Now they are “prophecising” the beginning of February or at least the end of this month. It looks like spells about the Mayan calendar and the end of the world.

Therefore, the second option remains – a provocation, when Russia cannot but deliver reception. Provocations can be different: shelling, terrorist attacks, staging the use of chemical weapons, framed-up videos, and so on. Anyone can be perpetrators of provocations, but people who "order" them are definitely those who benefit from the war in Ukraine.

Who benefits?

In order to answer this question, it is necessary to imagine a geopolitical situation in the world at the most global level. Today, two opposing blocs are being formed, which can be conventionally called Anglo-Saxon and Russian-Chinese. These blocs not only oppose each other politically, but also offer a different ideology, which at some points even penetrates a religion.

The Anglo-Saxon bloc preaches the unconditional leadership of the United States in international affairs, liberalism, globalism, the rejection of traditional values and concepts, and the degradation of moral standards. The Russian-Chinese one advocates a balance of interests of the main international players, observance of national interests, upholding traditional values and moral standards. The outcome of the struggle between these blocs will largely depend on which side the most influential countries of Europe, India and some other states will take. There is the fiercest struggle for pulling Europe today.

As you might guess, the war in Ukraine will force Germany, France and other European countries to side with the Anglo-Saxon bloc. In addition to this global task, the United States will be able to achieve a break in economic ties between Russia and Europe, which will lead to a significant weakening of the economies of both sides. Based on this, we can conclude that the war in Ukraine is primarily in the interests of the United States, Great Britain and other countries of the British Commonwealth. This is confirmed by the fact that, first of all, it is the media of these countries that are most actively shaking the situation, politicians who are declaring their readiness to evacuate diplomatic personnel from Kyiv and also supplying weapons to Ukraine, of which more than 500 tons have recently arrived in Kyiv (!).

However, there are also significant risks for the US in this scenario. Not every war serves their interests. The lightning defeat of Ukraine will lead to a strong weakening of the United States and the defeat of the Democratic Party in the upcoming elections. At the same time, if China happens to take advantage of the opportunity to seize Taiwan, the US will be on the verge of its own political disaster. Therefore, they need a long protracted conflict in Ukraine with a big toll and destruction. Then the Anglo-Saxons would be able to impose sanctions against Russia, accuse it of war crimes, try to isolate it politically, and most importantly, break off Russia's political and economic cooperation with European countries.

A lot of actions and statements by American and British politicians look like begging Russia to start such a war. This is also a constant reminder that neither the US nor NATO will fight for Ukraine; the promulgation of sanctions against Russia, which will not be able to do significant harm to it; frequent publications in authoritative outlets about the impossibility of disconnecting Russia from the SWIFT system; and general speculations that sanctions as such may not follow at all.

How can this all end?

Neither Ukraine nor Russia would benefit from such a war. It can only serve the interests of a third party. Will it be able to get its way? We don't know. But even regardless of the goals set by the active "invasion" spell-casters, the whipping up of hysteria leads to very specific losses for the Ukrainian economy and, as a result, to social tension. Investors are massively withdrawing capital from Ukraine, the hryvnia is rapidly falling, prices are rising alongside interest rates on government loans. All this, even without any "invasion", can entail the economic collapse and a precarious domestic situation.

Watching all the developments, everyone can draw conclusions about who really want the best for Ukraine and its people, and who pours water on the mill of those who actually destroy it.