Russian servicemen distribute St. George’s ribbons to residents of the Kherson region.
By Irina Alksnis
Published in English on A Socialist in Canada, June 8, 2022
The following is the latest in an ongoing series of published articles in A Socialist In Canada expressing the views of Russian journalists and political leaders on the state of the world. Further below are related readings on the Russian political/military intervention in Ukraine.
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Originally published in Russian on RIA Novosti
Every day there is now a flood of news about not just the return of the liberated territories to peaceful life – primarily the Donetsk and Lugansk republics and the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions of southern Ukraine- but also about the rapid restructuring of life there at a qualitatively new level of cooperation and integration with Russia.
The port of Mariupol has resumed work, while Russia has sent very serious forces, including the Ministry of Emergency Situations, to restore the city itself, which was badly damaged by hostilities. Schools in Melitopol, the temporary capital of the liberated Zaporozhye region, will switch to the Russian language and the five-point system from the new academic year. On Russia Day, June 12, the residents of the region will be presented with the first passports of citizens of the Russian Federation.
Russia’s defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, has announced the restoration of railway communication between Russia, Donbass, Ukraine and Crimea. The Minister added that the delivery of goods to Mariupol, Berdyansk [port city on the Sea of Azov, app. 75 km west of Mariupol] and Kherson has already begun. It’s been known for some time now that the liberated territories are converting to the ruble currency and to Russian mobile communications and internet connection. Trips of high-ranking Russian officials to the republics, Kherson and Melitopol have become commonplace. The military-civilian administration in the Zaporozhye region has begun preparations for holding a referendum on joining the Russian Federation.
This is just a small slice of the continuous flow of information that is growing day by day. It certainly gives us a reason to be proud of the country, confirming the immutability of the best national traditions: wherever Russia goes, it undertakes assistance, building, restoring and development.
What is happening also has a not-so obvious but perhaps no less important aspect. We live in a difficult and very dangerous period of deep transformation of the world system. Before our eyes, institutions are falling into decay and processes that have been basic for human civilization for almost eight decades are ceasing to exist. The systemic crisis covers an increasing number of areas of the world and forecasts about the future are becoming increasingly gloomy.
At the same time, even the largest ill-wishers of our country admit that Russia is surprisingly confident in the ongoing processes, demonstrating the ability not only to survive the current period more safely than many but to emerge from it as one of the global winners. This state of affairs is directly related to the transformational processes taking place in the liberated territories.
The fact is that the unipolar world has become obsolete, the global system has degraded, and the United States (along with the West as a whole) is unacceptably abusing its hegemonic position. So it is necessary to build something new that corresponds to new realities. This has been talked about now for many years.
At the same time, it is obvious that before building a new world order, it is necessary to destroy the old one. But ‘destruction’ requires very serious resources and forces – not to mention the observance of safety and protection in order that what you destroy does not fall on your head and bury you.
In recent years, U.S. and European accusations against Russia of destructive actions aimed at the collapse of the “rules-based world order” have become commonplace. But Moscow has never spent resources on destruction. More than two decades ago, it chose the strategy of simply building something new, and doing so as far as possible without conflicting with the established world system. As the decline of the old began to gain momentum, the influence and strength of new structures and processes began to grow. The ‘BRICS’ assemblage of countries, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the Collective Security Treaty Organization [consisting of many of the countries of the former Soviet Union] and other organizations initiated by Russia were objects of ridicule for years, until it turned out that exactly the same thing happened to them as to the amusing, toy regiments of the young Peter the Great, namely, they became a truly working and impressive force.
The West itself is successfully handling the destruction of the old. It is ironic that in its mind, the collective Wests fiercely defends the system of which it is the main beneficiary, but in reality, it is only hastening its own demise. The orgy of sanctions in which it is engaged shows this especially well.
Of course, a collision between the dying old world and the emerging new one is absolutely inevitable. The military special operation in Ukraine has become just that. The West pushed the situation to a line that Russia could not allow it to cross.
But even here Moscow remained true to itself. While Europe and the United States, together with the Kyiv elites, are enthusiastically destroying Ukraine and ruining their own economies under the motto ‘The main thing is that Putin does not win’, Russia prefers to direct resources to the revival of the liberated territories. We shall see whose strategy proves more effective.
Related readings, drawn from the ‘World news’ headlines page of A Socialist In Canada:
U.S. is shooting itself in the foot and harming the world in its efforts to hurt Russia, by Margaret Kimberley, executive editor and senior columnist, Black Agenda Report, June 8, 2022
A further ending of the Nordic ideal as Finland and Sweden move to join NATO, by Heikki Patomäki, published in The Nation, June 7, 2022(Heikki Patomäki is a professor of world politics and global political economy at the University of Helsinki.)
In interview on Russian TV, Vladimir Putin responds to accusations that Russia is causing food and fertilizer price inflation and supply squeezes, interview with Vladimir Putin, broadcast on Rossiya 1 television channel, June 3, 2022 Transcript published on the website of the President of Russia, June 3, 2022 read the interview transcript here in pdf format: Is Russia causing world food crisis?
