Ukrainian Diplomat to Al-Estiklal: Putin’s Dream Is Impossible, and the Preparation to Resist It Began Years Ago

Ukrainian political expert and diplomat Vladimir Shumakov confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to carry out a comprehensive invasion of Ukraine due to popular resistance that the Ukrainians had prepared for several years ago.

In an interview with Al-Estiklal, Mr. Shumakov added that Putin dreams of creating a new Soviet Union, but that is impossible; therefore, he is committing war crimes that the Nazis did not commit in Germany before, which made the Ukrainian people describe him as “the Hitler of this age.”

He attributed the reason for the current Russian invasion of his country to the fact that any authoritarian regime always hates the presence of any democratic regime next to it for fear of the infection of democracy and freedom, and Putin sees that Ukraine is important to achieve his impossible dreams.

Mr. Shumakov also criticized international positions towards what is happening in Ukraine, led by the United States and NATO, which he described as “a paper tiger,” stressing at the same time that there is no point in the presence of the United Nations.

“The Ukrainian people realize that this occupation is temporary, and the popular resistance will not stop until the Russian occupier withdraws from the entire national territory, especially the Donbass region in the east and the Crimea in the south,” he stressed.

Shumakov worked in the Ukrainian diplomatic corps in several positions, including an advisor at the Kyiv embassy in Libya between 2004 and 2007, and is currently Ukraine’s delegate to the Arab League.

 

 

Ongoing War

 

• What is the fate of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in light of the current war?

Mr. Vladimir Shumakov: Russia failed to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian army is now very collapsed and the logistics inside are very poor, and many destroyed tanks and armored vehicles are now left after the Ukrainian army has been targeted.

There is no fuel next to tanks and armored vehicles, and the food ration that reaches the Russian soldiers and their military clothes are very poor, yet they are being distributed to the soldiers now.

Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has lost 335 tanks, 1,105 armored vehicles, 208 air defense systems, more than 40 combat aircraft, and 80 helicopters.

In addition to the killing of about 12,000 Russian soldiers since the start of the invasion, according to official statistics, as well as another 29,000 soldiers, either captured or wounded.

 

• From your point of view, what was Russia's main motive for occupying Ukraine?

Mr. Vladimir Shumakov: Any authoritarian regime always hates the presence of any democratic regime next to it for fear of the infection of democracy and freedom.

Ukraine is a country governed by a democratic regime; while in Russia there is an authoritarian regime, so there is no understanding between them, as the Russian regime hates the democrats in Ukraine.

In addition, Putin has a desire to rebuild the Soviet Union again, and Ukraine is a priority for him in order to implement this unrealistic idea.

In the past, there was a socialist theory that helped unite those former socialist countries, including Ukraine; while today Putin does not have any theory now, neither socialist nor any other.

Putin has nothing but money to look for everywhere; therefore, realizing Putin's dream of a new Soviet Union is impossible.

 

 

Ukrainian Internally

 

• What is the position of the Ukrainian people from the Russian occupier?

Mr. Vladimir Shumakov: The Ukrainians inside the country adopted a strategy of mass popular resistance in the three occupied cities of Kherson, Berdyans'k and Mariupol.

In the rest of the Ukrainian cities, popular resistance is escalating in a very large way, and preparations have been made for it for many years.

The Russians don't know what to do with these cities they are besieging. They are causing a major humanitarian crisis only to pressure the Kyiv government into accepting their terms, but this is impossible.

In addition, Ukraine, with its government, people and army, are determined to defeat the Russian occupation, have a high spirit, are ready for confrontation, and have great steadfastness on the field.

The popular resistance will not stop until the Russian occupier withdraws from all of Ukraine, especially the occupied Donbass region and the Ukrainian Crimea.

We also note that the Russian invasion largely failed to break the Ukrainian morale aimed at achieving victory, as the Ukrainian army received thousands of volunteers from various Western countries.

So far, more than 50,000 volunteers from Europe, America and even Canada have arrived in Ukraine to defend it.

 

• What is the economic situation that characterizes Ukraine... and what is its fate in light of the Russian invasion?

Mr. Vladimir Shumakov: Ukraine's GDP exceeded $200 billion in 2021, its cash reserves were $31.6 billion, its exports amounted to $68.24 billion, and it produced 50 million tons of grain, including 28 million tons of wheat.

It ranks sixth in the world in wheat exports and fourth in corn exports, as well as it also ranks first in the world in exports of sunflower oil and third in the production and export of honey, at about 81 thousand tons annually.

Ukraine also has a lot of natural resources, especially coal and iron, but many mines stopped working because of the war.

 

 

International Position

 

• How do you see the role of the international community of Russian aggression?

Mr. Vladimir Shumakov: The United States and the European Union are currently supplying Ukraine with modern weapons and anti-tank missiles. We are asking NATO to close the airspace; but the latter is afraid to implement this requirement.

Now we mock NATO's position, which the Ukrainian people describe as “a paper tiger” and only helped us by buying 50 tons of diesel for us!

Therefore, I do not know, after Ukraine's victory over the Russian bear, will it have a desire to join this NATO again?!

The United Nations is also useless, and the former Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, was right when he tore up the UN Charter.

However, we notice great support from the European Union through imposing devastating sanctions on Russia's economy, and with it, Putin's dream of continuing his support for his war machine against Ukraine will collapse.

 

• Did America and Europe want to involve Russia in invading Ukraine to weaken its power?

Mr. Vladimir Shumakov: I don't think so, but in general it is good for America, Europe and China that Russia is weak; surprisingly, Putin does not understand that after the war Russia will be weaker economically and militarily.

This will be in China's interest, as there is a dispute between China and Russia over large areas of the border that China claims that Russia has seized and Beijing seeks to recover, and that would be an appropriate opportunity.

 

• How do you see the Ukrainian president's call for European youth to volunteer to defend his country?

Mr. Vladimir Shumakov: I think the influx of volunteers would be a very good thing for Ukraine; because most of these volunteers, whether foreign or Arab, had previous combat experience against Russia.

Also, among the volunteers, there are pilots who are able to use European and American warplanes, and this is very important, in light of Ukraine's pursuit of such aircraft.

I know that there are a large number of Arab fighters who want to come to fight against the Russians in revenge for their crimes in their countries, especially in Syria and Libya.

 

 

IDP File

 

• How do you see reports that predict that the number of Ukrainians displaced from the inferno of war has exceeded 5 million people?

Mr. Vladimir Shumakov: I actually heard this number, and some say 3 million, mostly women and children, because defenseless civilians, women and children, flee from the Ukrainian residential cities that are bombed day and night, fearing for their lives.

The Russians also launched in the city of Sumy a bomb weighing half a ton among civilians, a kind of madness that hit Putin and his army, which used more than 600 ballistic missiles against civilians, and the price of one missile is estimated at more than $4 million.

So it is only natural for civilians to flee from this crazy bombing by Putin's army, which committed war crimes that the Nazis had not committed in Germany before, which made the Ukrainian people describe Putin as “the Hitler of this age.”

 

 

• What is your comment on the issue of racism with non-Ukrainians at the border gates?

Mr. Vladimir Shumakov: In general, there is no racism in Ukraine against foreigners when compared to Russia, which has severe racism, and some of them may be subjected to racism on the Polish border or elsewhere; because of the huge numbers that want to flee the war.

I think that the local population in Poland or other countries neighboring Ukraine were not ready to receive such huge numbers of refugees, whether Ukrainians, Arabs or others.

But inside Ukraine there is no racism, as what happened on the border is an exception, and the Ukrainian people always welcome and treat foreigners well.

But perhaps because of the war, these individual incidents occurred which appear as an anomaly, and an exception that does not express the true friendly relations of the Ukrainian people with foreigners.