Apolitical Has Its Limits
Regardless our attempts to safeguard our mental health, i.e. keep away from the news cycle, and also show compassion for the millions in pain, there are limits to how long we can be polite. Particularly so with people with extreme beliefs as to how society should be organised: even regardless if they are citizens of another sovereign state. Anger is induced when fellow humans are tortured and/or assassinated by the State. I was born at a time when Russia was a friend, even comrade, of the Allies during World War II; when I entered elementary school that had changed in a matter of months: the world was on edge. Would there be a “nuclear holocaust”? Meaning the USSR vs the West; ending the war with Japan in 1945 by the US bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki introduced the age of nuclear warfare . We must reflect back to the conference between the US, UK and Russia, at Yalta in 1945, when the “Cold War” began because of the concessions to Stalin, i.e. the Soviets took control of east Germany and most of eastern Europe. The Iron Curtain had fallen.
In a few short paragraphs I will attempt to draw a cohesive picture of why I think that Russian politics and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia carry some similar signals that were sent by Nazi Germany before 1939. It turned out that Britain became the only line of defence between Nazi Germany and the United States and Canada. Today, Ukraine is our “Britain”. Putin is once again building a “fortress Russia” and expanding influence through out the old Soviet-bloc. NATO has responded by poring huge amounts of money and materials into Ukraine to support its aspiration of independence and eventual membership into NATO. Domestic politics in the United States and Hungary are giving new life to Putin’s goals: drive a wedge between NATO Allies and lending encouragement for him to rebuild the former USSR.
Ukraine has suffered so many abuses, most especially, from Russia. I can only support its ambitions to be independent of Russia. I add to that, the brave Russians who are giving there lives to live what many of us take for granted — — to wake up each morning without fear of the State.
If you have ever read anything written by me you know that I avoid debating politics and religion. As long as I am not being harassed for my beliefs or being told that I should adopt the beliefs of another person, then live and let live works just fine.
While avoiding the daily “24/7/365 Breaking News” works for the most part, there are events which demand a response. My love many years ago for one of my favourite university professors (Ukrainian), then later moving to Canada and living among many Ukrainian friends and work mates, demands that I voice how much I have detested Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Most recently, his obvious order for the assassination of Alexie Navalny (Russian) and many documented cases of harassment and imprisonment of other dissidents, such as the all-female rock band, “Pussy Riot”.
Like many of you I have made some difficult choices and dealt with bad luck, some of my own making, and endured a fair share of pain. However, if you know anything about Navalny’s life, you know that his tolerance for pain was off the scale! He was imprisoned multiple times for extremism, headed an opposition party that has investigated numerous Russian officials for corruption and many crimes, he came in second in his run for mayor of Moscow, then recovered in Berlin after being poisoned in Moscow (2020) but returned to Russia in 2021 to continue supporting the opposition to Putin’s regime. Once again he was imprisoned, relocated to a penal site above the Artic Circle and on February 16, 2024, was announced dead by the Russian prison service: he was 47 years old. Returning his body to his mother after it was held for many days officials declared, “death by natural causes”.
February 28, 2024: Yulia Navalnaya, wife of Alexie Navalnaya (below), addressed the European Parliament. I fear for her. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/02/28/navalny-funeral-moscow-friday/
Navalny was an inspiration to a whole generation of younger Russians. While many bore the heel of Putin’s thugs some of the most visible and colourful were those of the feminist rock band, “Pussy Riot”. They credit him with their courage to act out and be a source of embarrassment to many Russian authorities. No doubt they have been, and remain, on Putin’s radar.
Nadya Tolokonnikova, founder of “Pussy Riot”, recounted her first introduction to Navalny. It was2011, “And then Aleksei spoke about his anticorruption investigations. I can divide my life into before and after that speech. “We take a stick and poke at the bad guys with this stick, and you can do it with me,” he said.” She and her co-members were imprisoned at a penal colony for 2 years.
Here is the link to the essay by Nadya Tolokonnikova: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/20/opinion/navalny-death-putin.html?unlocked_article_code=1.YE0.k1LS.rPrJe4voa4gx&smid=url-share ; thanks to a friend, J.A. for sending me this link.
Again I must admit great admiration for people with the conviction and bravery who seek freedom of expression at most any cost. I have taken that for granted all my life. Today, there are those in our free societies who threaten to tell the rest of us how and what to believe, completely dismissing constitutional rights and freedoms, with threats of retribution for those that do not comply. That must stop!
February 24, 2022, Russia aka Vladimir Putin, launched an invasion of Ukraine. “By June 2022, Russian troops occupied about 20% of Ukrainian territory. From a population of 41 million in January 2022, about 8 million Ukrainians had been internally displaced and more than 8.2 million had fled the country by April 2023, creating Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II.”.
The first significant immigration of Ukrainians was mainly to the western provinces of Canada, 1891–1914. They preferred the parkland regions of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. where they had access to boreal hardwoods that were used to build homes and used for heat.
Ukrainians have a long memory when it comes to Soviet Russia. The Holodomor (death by hunger) enforced by Josef Stalin, to supress aspirations of independence by Ukraine, resulted in the starvation between 1932–33 of an estimated 3.5–5.0 million deaths due to starvation; it has been condemned as a “genocide”, a crime against humanity by many countries and international courts. There seems that today we observe similar aspirations proclaimed by Putin.
Canada is home to the third largest population of Ukrainians outside their homeland. “Between 1947 and 1954, some 34,000 Ukrainians, displaced by the Second World War, arrived in Canada. “Representing all Ukrainian territories, they were the most complex socioeconomic group.” One of my former homes was in Mundare, Alberta, where the Ukrainian Catholic Church was centered. The Basilian Brothers monastery formed the keystone of the church in Alberta. Rural, and large urban churches, are scattered thought the Parklands of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Despite early on being isolated via language and culture Ukrainians have integrated into high positions in politics and education. Hard work and perseverance were not new to the immigrants.
Follow this link to learn more:
Ukrainians culture continues, Pysanka Festival Vegreville, Alberta: https://www.pysankafestival.com/ and the largest Pysanka in the world:
The Ukrainian Cultural Village east of Edmonton: https://ukrainianvillage.ca/programs-experiences
Here is an example of one of the small town Ukrainian churches east of Edmonton, Alberta.
This brief history of current, and past events, is dedicated to dear friends, work-mates and colleagues with Ukrainian heritage. Especially those who have passed on but who had such positive impacts on my life in Canada. I have been blessed in the truest sense.
If you feel the urge, please give me a clap. I like to know whether I am saying anything worthwhile. Cheers!
Zack Florence
