The Russians

I’ve had writers block. So I thought. For a while I thought it might be post-Covid brain fog. But that wasn’t it either. I’ve spent weeks reading, watching, discussing the war in Ukraine. I keep thinking that I have something to say about it. But as soon as I’m in front of my keyboard, I draw a blank. I can’t put thoughts into words. But I’ve decided that it’s not down to writers block or brain fog. It’s just that I don’t know what is going to happen next. But inspiration struck, eventually, when I thought about all the ways Russia has lost this war.

Russia has already lost. They’ve lost bigly, some might say. I think that catastrophic is the better adjective. The sanctions will have a significant impact on their economy. Worse, they are a petro-oligarchy who just lost their biggest customers. Naysayers might point to the increased spend on Russian energy products this year by European nations. But they’re missing the point. Volumes are down a quarter and will dwindle to next to nothing.

Hundreds of thousands of Russians have fled the country. Some will go back. Many won’t and these are likely to be the brightest, best educated, most industrious and innovative folk. Everyday the war continues, Putin by necessity becomes more tyrannical. Every day, more of Russia’s wealth in blood and money is spilled and wasted in a foreign country. Every day, the hole is dug deeper. Eventually, it’ll be deep enough to bury the whole rotten state.

The inspiration for this essay came in the shape of Basil Fawlty, and one episode in particular. Putin has, quite fairly, been compared to Hitler. But there’s a more painful long term effect of this war. Every day it continues, the stench of fascism sticks harder to all things Russian. That includes the population. Generations of Russians will be tarred with the brush of fascism. Russians not yet born will carry the burden of Putin’s despotic folly. Because, Russians is the new Germans.