I follow a handful of YouTubers, who also post on Instagram/Twitter, who live/travel in Ukraine and Russia, who mostly all think this is being exaggerated by Western politicians and media. Not that Russia has built up armies around the Ukraine border, but that they’ll actually invade Russia.
I’m very cynical about politicians and media, and they have certainly created an unsavoury impression of Russian society and culture over many decades (in reality Russians are generally warm, friendly and community-minded people), although criticisms of the authoritarian dictatorship (and it is pretty much a dictatorship!) are certainly warranted.
I don't doubt you're impression of Russians and Russian society - human beings do after all tend to be human beings, no matter how bad their Government. But I don't recall ever reading anything in the mainstream UK Press or from UK politicians that either claims or implies Russians aren't warm and friendly, so I'm not sure why you have the impression Western media is pushing that line? As far as I can tell, criticism of Russia tends to be exclusively levelled at the Putin and his corrupt, autocratic, Government.
I’m largely of the view that this event is being overplayed slightly. However, those like the YouTubers I mention saying it’s all nonsense will look a little silly if an invasion does happen.
Yes, it does seem to me very possible that the fears of invasion, while clearly justified, are being overplayed a bit by Western leaders precisely in order to try to deter Putin from invading. And that makes sense because overplaying and preventing an invasion is far, far, less bad than underplaying it and then seeing an invasion actually happen.
It's also possible that Western leaders are thinking a bit about Xi's regime in China, with its designs on Taiwan: The more we appear to be standing firm against Russia, the more we are indirectly communicating a message that there would be a high cost for him too if he tried to invade.
Pull the other one!
I have just been reading the latest weekly blog by Peter Hitchens [no friend of Putin] on the Mail Online website. He writes:
According to the
Democracy Index Ukraine ranks 84th out of all countries in levels of democracy. Not brilliant, and it's classified as a 'hybrid regime' - so I think you're correct only to the extent that Ukraine isn't (yet) truly democratic. However it's way, way, ahead of Russia - which ranks 124th and is classed as 'authoritarian'.