2022 was a year of war and barbarism, when Russian defiance culminated in open aggression. Since the end of February, Ukraine has been subjected to an assault, the goal of which no one could ignore: the elimination of its statehood and the destruction of an entire nation. From the blitzkrieg of the early days to the bloody orgy of missile attacks, the Russian Federation and Vladimir Putin have chosen crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes as tools designed to restore imperial greatness.

For Russia, disobedience is now imperial disobedience. Beyond Ukraine and its tragedy, a broader plan of ambition looms that looks to the Soviet era as a direction. Today, the integrity of the heritage, which Russia considers sacred, is once again confirmed. Russia is returning to its imperial path, which it never left. Weapons of mass destruction are the ultimate embodiment of his policy.

The battlefield covering Ukraine, with its terrible devastation, evokes in Central and Eastern Europe the memory of the blood and oppression of the Soviet era. The present of Ukraine can be the future of this part of Europe, as soon as the Russian imperial wave hits us. Central and Eastern Europe, ceded and negotiated as compensatory territory, can retain its freedom only by defeating Russia. Those who propose the path of negotiations only reward the piratical instinct of Russia, which ignores international law and its own debts as a state. Russian barbarism is a mortal threat to our peoples.

The tragedy in Ukraine is inseparable from the lesson of patriotism: self-sacrifice in defense of one’s nation is not old-fashioned, a relic, an anachronism, but the only way to resist corruption and crime. For Ukraine, this war is an alternative to the extermination of the nation. Here is an elementary truth. The attacks now continue the secular efforts of the Russian state to destroy this people, reducing them to the position of a harmless vassal in the forms of a colonial protectorate.

As for Russia, it is living in a time of tyranny, as it was during Stalin’s time. Sanctions, isolation and defeats did not lead to the collapse of Putin’s regime. His dictatorship, strengthened by the complicity of a nation anesthetized by propaganda, feeds on discontent and expansionist enthusiasm. The Russian people are prisoners of Putin’s system. Breaking away from this totalitarian present is a challenge that only Russians can face. The choice between miserable complicity and dignity is left to them.

2023 will be another year of war. Read the whole article and comment on Contributors.ro