From: Roman Sheremeta (Professor of Economics, Board Member, Founding Rector of American University Kyiv)
On this day, 30 years ago, russian troops entered Chechnya.
Much time has passed since, but the words of the President of Ichkeria (Chechnya), Dzhokhar Dudayev, still remain relevant today.
He predicted that russia would eventually attack Ukraine. He said that “as long as russism exists, they will never give up their ambitions.” But he also predicted that Ukrainians will never tolerate russification and that the russian invasion of Ukraine would not end well for russia.
There are several important lessons here: First, unlike many still believe, the russian aggression didn’t start with Putin and it will most likely not end with him. Imperialism is deeply rooted in the history and culture of russia. And as long as it exists, russia will continue to attack its neighbors and suppress its colonial minorities.
Second lesson is that the West has been blind and impotent. When witnessing the brutal, bloody and systematic destruction of people of Ichkeria, the West stood idly by and rewarded russia as the aggressor with stronger economic ties and political legitimacy.
Finally, if we truly want to live in a peaceful world, russia needs to be defeated. We cannot fall into the “fake negotiations” trap. To quote Dudayev: “Russia always offers negotiations when it is struggling, when plans are falling apart, in order to buy time, regroup, correct mistakes, find a weak spot, and then strike again with renewed strength!”
Voice of Ukraine 