13. On Wars and Rumours Wars.

In 1983 a British SIS spy in the Russian residency in London, Oleg Gordievsky alerted the British to the fact that an instruction had come from the Russian Centre to list and describe all actions in the UK which might point to the possibility of nuclear strike being planned on the then Soviet Union. This was called operation RYAN. Despite thinking a strike unlikely, the Russians in London worked hard to provide such information to Moscow but this, unsurprisingly, only enhanced the conviction of the Center that an attack was imminent, so they asked for yet more information.

Russian President Yuri Andropov said “The Regan administration, in its imperial ambitions, goes so far that one even begins to doubt whether Washington has any brakes at all preventing it from crossing the point at which any sober-minded person must stop.”

In July this year President Putin produced a rambling and internally contradictory document setting out the reasons why the Russian and Ukrainian peoples' are one. It starts with references to a mythic common past as part of the Rus tribal confederation which lasted from the late ninth century to its final destruction by Mongol invaders circa 1340. Mr Putin also dwells on the fate of Carpathian Ruthenia, suggesting it should be an independent part Ukraine. Unfortunately one third of this obscure territory is shared between present day Poland and Slovakia, both members of the EU. Towards its end, his articles discusses the war in eastern Ukraine, but ignores the violent Russian contribution to the recent formation of the Donbass Republic in Ukraine or indeed the Russian annexation of Crimea, and instead states “We respect Ukrainians desire to see their country free safe and prosperous.” Which does rather raise the question “If so, why is the Russian state now amassing over 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border?”

Both Yuri Andropov and Vladimir Putin are both remarkable for being head of their external intelligence agencies prior to becoming President of Russia. The anxiety during Andropov's presidency seemed to be associated with the aggressive rhetoric of Ronald Regan against the Soviet Union and once Gordievsky's warning had been digested, efforts were made by NATO countries to tone down the rhetoric and assure the Center that there were no plans for an immanent nuclear attack. That effort was made easier because Andropov died shortly afterwards and was succeeded by a President who was less paranoid.

As heads of intelligence agencies both Andropov and Putin were paid to be paranoid. Presidents, on the other hand, have to negotiate and deal with other states so they need a more balanced view. Mr Putin claims to have driven a taxi at some time, but prior to taking up the Presidency he seems to have had little experience of life outside the Russian intelligence service. Many of us had looked forward to closer ties with Russia and its people after the break up of the Soviet Union, perhaps to a time reminiscent of that when Edward VII wrote letters to his cousin Czar Nicholas II addressing him as “Dear Nicki”. This has not happened and is unlikely to occur when a somewhat paranoid, ultra nationalist, immersed in a mythic past, is in charge of the Russian Federation.

Mr Putin emphasises the continuity of the Russian language and more recently Orthodox Christianity as a basis for his territorial claims. Perhaps the greatest tragedy of the Russian President's lecture is his total lack of compassion or concern for human beings who get in the way of his territorial desires. He claims membership of Orthodox Christianity but only to embellish his ultra-nationalist conception of what it is to be Russian. The obligations of the Christian life are entirely absent from his lecture. After all, so far some 14,000 people, mostly Ukrainian and all Orthodox Christians, have died in pursuit of his idea that the Russian and Ukrainian people are one. His territorial desires are reminiscent of the Nazi nationalist move to take over the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia on the grounds that it was populated by German speakers who had moved there in mediaeval times. We all know where that led.

Peace,

Paul.

Completed 30 December 2021.

The York Project (2002) 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei  distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH. ISBN: 3936122202.

Mother of God, mosaic, icon, Hagia Sophia (12th century)

Vladimir Putin's lecture can be found at: http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/66181 .





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