Putin Targets Ukraine s Growing Sense of National Identity – WSJ

In the subsequent eight years, Ukrainians have torn down hundreds of Lenin statues and changed the names of cities and streets connected with the country s Soviet past. The language of conversation in Kyiv, which a decade ago was usually Russian, is now more frequently Ukrainian. In 2019 the country won its own Orthodox Church after centuries in which believers were part of Moscow s flock.

Mr. Putin has fought back with pen and sword. Last year he wrote a 7,000-word essay describing Ukraine as an artificial creation of Soviet leaders made up largely of historically Russian lands. He has railed against the changes, suggesting they were driven by radical nationalists and part of a plot by foreign intelligence agencies to divide the two countries. Now he is massing more than 100,000 troops around Ukraine as a possible prelude to another invasion.

The clock is running against Putin, said Pavlo Klimkin, a former Ukrainian foreign minister. The country is changing.

via www.wsj.com

Putin really is a vile creature, even for a KGB hood. He’s a stone killer of many people, both en masse (Chechnya, Georgia) and up close (Litvinenko). I can see why the Ukrainians don’t like him one bit. No, we shouldn’t start WW3 over Ukraine. But we should absolutely help them with arms (not the Germans’ “pillows”).