With the current Russian invasion of Ukraine creeping hopelessly towards it's eighteen-month anniversary and showing no signs of abating, we are, as always, seeing a lull in the domestic level assistance given. When it began there were endless social media posts showing someone or other taking a van full of food and blankets to the war-torn cities and countryside. the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal raised £150 million in it's first week over a year ago. the total currently stands at £400 million This is nothing to be disappointed in as it is just human nature, all is relative. With various charitable events and drives, the funds and assistance is steadily continuing. There have been some positive wins for the Ukrainian forces but they are minimal and also, heavily publicised in a Winston Smith stylee. This battle is not going to have a happy ending for the "good guys."
This -as in the help being donated- is the positive side of things. The magnificent domestic-level help given directly to the displaced in Ukraine was heartwarming and a philanthropic triumph. This is not what I am talking about here, I am talking about the more questionable, jingoistic bravado and the naiveite it contains, as well as the demonstrable danger it poses.
What was the first thing everyone did? They started putting Ukrainian flags up Harmless you might say? I am not so sure. It certainly is the thin end of the wedge, but it smacks of feeble disingenuousness and keeping up with the Joneses. Let me explain, and by doing this I am really blowing my wad way too early as this is the justification for the entire argument, but here goes. How many people putting them up knew anything about Ukraine? Why on earth would you wave a flag of a country you have no link to or any knowledge of (especially calling it "The Ukraine.") Of course, It is not the end of the world, but shows a certain plasticity in our approach.
Then we are talking about sheltering refugees....hold up! A step too far. Putting them in private homes and giving them citizenship. Sorry Ukraine, credit limit was reached and breached some time ago.
The place is an organised crime paradise. How many displaced citizens who would not have a chance of getting in the UK will be getting through the net. Gangsters posing as the suffering, and even worse, family members of them. Meaning they will be following suit, setting up cells, operations and import procedures. To anyone calling me heartless, let us check the stats. The Ukrainian "Mafia" is the most powerful post Soviet crime organisation in America today. The amount of Afghan heroin being unloaded, sold and exported through Ukraine is higher than any other Eastern bloc country, so by definition any country in the world. Cyber crime in the UK that originates from Ukraine has affected multiple large British firms (including my own employer where we had a six-month outage thanks to a Ukraine-based attack attempt.)
Before any left-leaning call me heartless, I stress I support fully all aid and subsistence given to Ukraine, but in that direction. We must guard ourselves, forget the above reasons, forgetting the Odessa Mafia (Malina) is the most connected organised crime group in Europe, forget they are partnered with the Camorra running heroin and guns to France, Spain and the UK. Of course the milky tea-weak argument of "All countries have that element" is beyond daft. Denmark, Latvia, Finland to name a few, I do not see them with off-the-charts stats and history of gunrunning, large scale fraud and larceny and heroin trafficking. we have a country with a population density almost seven times higher than Ukraine. It is not practical.
Zelenskyy then. Those who know me will know I was a huge Libertines and Peter Doherty fan. However, when at Glastonbury, Peter led the crowd in a chant of "Zelenskyy! Zelenskyy!" It was a level of politically naive and year-9 secondary-school scale activism that I was shocked such a well-read intelligent man would stoop to (still, the same man has named his recent band "La Puta Madres" which is "The Motherfuckers" in Spanish.....ooh, edgy!)
How many people in that crowd really had a clue who Zelenskyy was, most school leavers have no clue who Gandhi or Mussolini were, so I would say around next to fucking none of them. Is there anything more dangerous than this?
Look, I get it, "My enemy's enemy is my friend right?" Yes, up to a point, but not blindly so. Your enemy sits at the head of a country full of the worst criminals, gangs that run Brighton Beach and criminals who flood the world with poison and bullets. You check your enemy's enemy out first. Lest we forget Stalin and the disastrous "Uncle Joe" image and what that led to.
Whether Zelenskyy is good or bad, the point is we should find out first. After all, the idea is not absurd. He is very young to have such power, his third biggest city and biggest port has a mayor called Gennadiy Trukhanov, who formed the Odessa Mafia.
All I am saying is remember Stalin, remember the Gulags and remember to look someone up before you start waving a flag, beating your chest, chanting his name and inviting his people to share your bathroom.