Andy Richardson: Our responsibility to provide support for Ukraine people
It never ends well for despots and dictators. There’s no reason to imagine things will be any different for the tyrant in The Kremlin whose indiscriminate war against innocent civilians in Ukraine has caused outrage and horror.
A population that has been edging ever closer to Europe and wishes to embrace the liberal ideals and freedoms that all of us take for granted is being erased from the map.
Putin wishes it not to exist. If Russians can see how well Ukraine is doing, what will they think to his repressive regime?
And so he’s sending bombs, tanks and fighter jets to a nation that seeks peace. It is pure evil.
The West has been united. While Putin imagined it would fracture, the reverse has been true.
Yes, some nations have done more than others, some have been speedier and some – the UK included – could do more, particular on the issue of sanctioning rich oligarchs and providing a haven for destitute refugees.
Yet the broad picture is of unanimity. The West realises that it is fighting for its own survival. The peace that it has enjoyed since 1945 is threatened by a man with his finger on nuclear weapons. Absolute power has corrupted Putin. Regime change in Moscow will at some stage occur.
Putin’s other campaign is against his own people. Feeding them lies is the only way to prevent an uprising. Their compliance in his war on their own brothers and sisters, just across the border, is essential if he is to succeed. And so security forces keep the population under control. There is disinformation and lies. People are bullied into complicit submission. Russians living overseas, in contrast, are ashamed. They want their country to lose the war that Putin is waging. They are deeply humiliated by what their country is doing.
The story from Ukraine, however, could not be more different. Its president has become a man for all ages, an heroic figure who will go down in history for all the right reasons, unlike the one from Moscow.
War displays the best and the worst of all. In this region, people of all backgrounds are doing what they can. For some, that is showing solidarity by offering good wishes to Ukrainians via social media.
For others, it’s donating clothing, bedding, first aid parcels or food. Others provide money while some look to organise and encourage others.
History is important at this time. It is not on the side of Putin. He may be able to bomb Ukranian cities into submission with his greater firepower. But both his firepower and economic reach are tiny when compared with that of the West.
It is the West that is the sleeping giant, not the Russian Bear, whose hand has been grossly overplayed.
While Putin has raked in vast wealth from oil and gas, he has also ended the good times before they’d ever really begun. The West has already looked to alternatives and it will find them.
The cost to it – to us – will be considerable. It will, however, be small in comparison to the losses that Russia suffers. Putin’s nation is going backwards and can look forward to a trajectory similar to that of other pariah states, who are unable to trade with the world or achieve economic advancement.
The corrupt practices of those who’ve laundered dirty money in London will gradually end – and not a moment too soon.
The Government fears legal action from those it wishes to sanction, though it will eventually succeed and those who take blood money will also face a high price. They will be isolated, just as Putin isolates himself and the unfortunate subjects who live in his pariah state.
Ukraine is teaching us a savage lesson. We must invest more in defence. We must be stronger and more united. We must face down bullies and we must open our hearts with compassion and love when we see people suffer.
Ukranians, like refugees around the world, are in an hour of need. It is our responsibility to react and to provide the support that we would hope for if we found ourselves in their position.
