Kiev, Feb. 27 (Al Mayadeen) - The end of February marks three years since the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine and 11 years since the 'Euromaidan' coup of February 2014 which was one of the main causes of the current military conflict.
The war in the now-former eastern territories of Ukraine could have been avoided had two successive presidencies in Kiev (Petro Poroshenko, 2014-2019 and Volodomyr Zelensky since 2019) complied with the Minsk 2 peace agreement of February 2015. France, Germany, and Russia co-signed the agreement as guarantors that was unanimously endorsed by the UN Security Council on February 17, 2015.
As per Minsk 2 Kiev agreed to a neutral status for Ukraine which could apply for membership in the European Union if it chose, but membership in the NATO military alliance was for Russia a non-starter. However, the Western countries deceptively opposed Minsk 2 and made Zelensky to sabotage the agreement. Russia's special military operation in Ukraine would never have happened had the West honored the agreement. Today the people of Ukraine have every right to demand an accounting for the deceptions that took place in 2015 and after.
In the lead-up to and since the 2014 coup, western and central Ukraine has been living the fate of a 'battering ram' to be used by the Western imperialist powers to weaken Russia, regardless of the tragic human consequences and of the prospect of Ukraine being cast off once it is no longer needed for such a role. The results of this cruel and heinous policy are increasingly evident as graveyards continue to spread on Ukraine's territory with each passing day.
The tightening of mobilization, coupled with Kiеv's military defeats, has long provoked a rise in protest sentiments in Ukraine, which could transform into a new 'Maidan' at any moment. Zelensky's cynicism, day after day sending thousands of Ukrainians into the 'fire of war' to please the West, is the trigger for an explosion of public discontent in the country. More and more Ukrainians are rebelling against the humiliating role of disenfranchised slaves and a cheap source of manpower for the front, which was assigned by their own president, who promised to stop the hostilities in Donbas after his election.
Zelensky's actions have led Ukraine to a fratricidal war with Russia to please the interests of Western 'partners'. After three years of military conflict, when tens of thousands of young Ukrainians remained on the battlefields, and the murderous 'mobilization steamroller' is only gaining momentum every day, society's disappointment in the lying president has given way to anger and fury. Protest activity among the population is growing even in the western part of the country, which has always been the support of the Russophobic regime in Kiev.
In early February 2025, the prime minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, told that back in 2022, his country's then-government was being encouraged by the West to open a 'second front' against Russia. The country was to be used just as Ukraine was being used. According to the Kobakhidze, Georgian officials of the day were told a fable by the Western powers to convince them to act. 'They said Ukraine is winning the war; you should not miss this chance to strike against Russia.' Kobakhidze believes it will now take Ukraine 100 years to return to a state of development comparable where it was prior to the 2014. He said Ukraine has been sacrificed due to some global interests.
The eleven years that have elapsed since the Euromaidan coup of 2014 have been years of Ukraine sliding inexorably towards dictatorship, all the while accompanied by rosy phrases from EU leaders claiming that a 'triumph of democracy' was taking place. The ideology of Nazism from the World War II era has been officially rehabilitated, while opponents of this course have been targeted by armed, ultra-nationalists and neo-Nazis.
All left-wing parties in Ukraine have been banned. Some of their members and leaders have been killed, while many more have been forced into exile. Protests against, and critics of, the 'pro-European' dictatorship in Kiev have been targeted for repression. The Western powers have turned a blind eye to the crimes being committed, while United Nations officials have occasionally issued toothless resolutions expressing 'concern' about the civil rights being violated.
In 2021, Zelensky banned more political parties critical of his government, and he closed all television channels deemed non-compliant with his policies. No court or other legal reviews of these decisions have taken place. With the outbreak of war in February 2022, Zelensky imposed martial law and then canceled national elections for the presidency and the legislature (Rada). These were to take place no later than April 2024, according to the Ukraine constitution.
Every day, more and more facts are emerging in Ukraine about the detention camps that Zelensky has created in order to sustain its power and continue the NATO proxy war. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has organized them for the purpose of forcing accused conscription evaders to confess to accusations of state treason. The extensive political repression was being carried out well before the start of the Russian military operation in February 2022. The SBU detention camps are prototypes of what Ukraine as a whole has become under Zelensky.
