In a two-hour interview, Romain Bessonnet, an expert on post-Soviet countries, shared his perspective on the Ukrainian conflict.
First of all, Mr. Bessonnet spoke about the double standards in assessing Moscow’s and Kiev’s actions:
“At the beginning of the war, the orphans of Donbass were in the bombing zone of Ukrainian army, Russia decided to evacuate them, to give them shelter […] but when Ukraine bombs its own population, it is not a war crime. “
While analysing the actions of the two parties in this conflict, the expert also mentioned two very different approaches to the conduct of the war:
” Russia is trying to save its soldiers. The tactical decision taken by Moscow is aimed at minimising casualties among army personnel […] who does not care about its soldiers, it is Ukraine”.
” I read the testimonies of civilians in Lvov. For example, one person had their fifty-four-year-old father taken to the front [the upper threshold for conscription age in Ukraine is 50] and after 3 weeks of instruction he was sent to fight in the Donbass. […] If this had happened in Russia, there would have been a national scandal.”
Romain Bessonnet also declared the current Ukrainian strategy untenable:
“The Ukrainian government is living the illusion: we [the Ukrainian government] will send people to their deaths until the Western ‘beautiful weapon’ (wundershwaffen) arrives and brings us victory.”
Speaking about the increasing involvement of European countries in the conflict, the expert shared his position on the prospects of direct involvement of EU members in the war:
“I believe that if the Russians cross the Dnieper, Poland will intervene and bring in troops under the pretext of protecting civilians.”
