A reminder for the “Ukraine is a proxy” crowd which has come out of the woodwork again. Whatever propaganda the Russo-Trumpian alliance now tries to push, the truth is that Europe follows and backs Ukraine, it doesn’t set the goals or the tone.
Replies
the actual "pr*xy" here is that whatever darkness happens to Ukraine eventually befalls America. Manafort rehabbed Yanukovych, then joined the Trump campaign. You didn't need a clearance to know Trump was a Russian agent at that point
aug 31, 2025, 7:26 pm • 0 0 • view
I blocked everyone on X if their posts contained the words, “Ukraine is a proxy war.” “Europeans are just prolonging the war” is another variant. Lately I've been trying to escape it by reading only the writings of Ukrainian authors, as a form of solidarity. I'm now reading Oleksandr Mykhed's
aug 31, 2025, 5:39 pm • 2 0 • view
"I Will Mix Your Blood With Coal," about Donbas. Lots of good quotations from people who live there, like Alevtina Kakhidze: "When I'm introduced with 'Here's a Donbas artist,' I have the urge to say, 'Hello, as you can see I don't have horns.'" Or from an unidentified resident of Kostiantynivka:
aug 31, 2025, 5:39 pm • 1 0 • view
"It's easy to love San Francisco, but go ahead and try to fall in love with Kostiantynivka. I love this city precisely because it's so hard to love it. Every day, I look for reasons." The book is a celebration of a people who are proud survivors. Separate chapters on Serhiy Zhadan and Ihor Kozlovsky
aug 31, 2025, 5:39 pm • 1 0 • view
I only wish Europe would back Ukraine more strongly now. As for russky propaganda and those who still swill it, they're either fools or active enemies of their own countries.
aug 31, 2025, 5:15 pm • 4 0 • view
Yep. "Proxy war" gets an immediate block from me.
aug 31, 2025, 5:03 pm • 2 0 • view
What would you recommend as a good rebuttal to Mearsheimer and his “realism”?
aug 31, 2025, 5:00 pm • 3 0 • view
The valid realist take is that Ukraine isn't in Russia's "sphere of influence" anymore, because Russia has no soft power levers to get Ukraine to align with Russian goals. If you have to march in, commit genocide and dominate to get your way, you've lost anything that qualifies as "influence"
sep 1, 2025, 1:28 am • 3 0 • view
So many. @oxanashevel.bsky.social and I wrote this on Feb 24, 2022: www.justsecurity.org/80343/russia... But also for more pointed critiques: slantchev.wordpress.com/2022/11/18/p... and hegemon.substack.com/p/the-two-me...
aug 31, 2025, 5:06 pm • 6 0 • view
Thanks very much.
aug 31, 2025, 5:07 pm • 3 0 • view
Actually interacting with a Russian for five minutes. It's impossible to realistically coexist with those people.
aug 31, 2025, 5:01 pm • 2 0 • view
Exactly. Ukraine has been actively resisting/fighting Russia since 2013-14 (or, you could make a strong argument, since the Orange Revolution of 2004-2005).
aug 31, 2025, 5:05 pm • 4 0 • view
Europe tricked Putin into invading Ukraine, so Europe could fight a proxy war with Russia? Why the hell would they do that? Anyway: Europe wants Russia to pull out of Ukraine completely and make sure they never return. AND wants Russia to butt out of European politics.
aug 31, 2025, 6:20 pm • 3 0 • view
Yeah, obviously European govts would rather not have to spend defence and deal w local selfish and propagandized voters
aug 31, 2025, 6:27 pm • 1 0 • view
Almost all European nations have a political party that is closely connected to the Kremlin, although obviously they deny it. Unfortunately they can be quite popular as their selling points are populistic and simplistic.
aug 31, 2025, 6:30 pm • 2 0 • view
Yes, full on idiocy
aug 31, 2025, 6:24 pm • 0 0 • view
I wonder if they can even sell that to their own fanbase.
aug 31, 2025, 6:27 pm • 0 0 • view
Still waiting for those European boots on the ground.
aug 31, 2025, 5:54 pm • 1 0 • view
Me too, but that’s a separate issue, unrelated to the proxy bs
aug 31, 2025, 7:17 pm • 2 0 • view
100%
sep 1, 2025, 9:54 am • 1 0 • view
for a proxy, ukraine and zelesky sure do say no to the united states a lot especially when you compare that to the sleazy billionaire CEOs in usa who rushed to bend the knee and give trump golden gifts
aug 31, 2025, 5:02 pm • 10 0 • view
You're our sisters and brothers. We'll do "whatever it takes"
aug 31, 2025, 5:13 pm • 0 0 • view
I'm not Ukrainian myself, but I endorse the sentiment!
aug 31, 2025, 5:16 pm • 3 0 • view
Quite right. The weakness of Europe is out there for all to see, in good (the claim that Europe wants war is utterly ridiculous) and bad (Europe is not doing enough to deter further Russian aggression). The root cause of the war is Russian imperialism and desire to either control or destroy 🇺🇦
sep 1, 2025, 11:36 am • 1 0 • view
That said - Don't block me before hearing me out - As the war continues, it keeps developing into a proxy war. Who are the North Koreans or Chinese fighting in Ukraine?! They have nothing against Ukrainians per se.
sep 1, 2025, 11:36 am • 1 0 • view
Some countries have taken Russia's side simply because the USA was and Europe is backing 🇺🇦 Self-proclaimed anti-imperialists choosing to support the last major European colonial empire carrying out genocide is as ironic as it is tragic. Must 🇺🇦 suffer for everyone else's sins to win its freedom?
sep 1, 2025, 11:36 am • 5 2 • view
It is unbelievably hypocritical for any country in the global South to side with Russia, the last true colonial imperialistic oppressor in Europe.
sep 1, 2025, 12:24 pm • 4 1 • view
Yeah. I understand wanting to stay neutral if you're far away. I even understood anti-Americanism to a point. A South American country that's been the subject of US interference was not likely to join a US-led alliance anyway. We're way past that, though. Countries like India? No excuses.
sep 2, 2025, 6:17 pm • 2 0 • view
Finland gets some of that too. We've been in NATO for two years and suddenly we're held responsible for Iraq war - a war that we had nothing to do with and actually opposed! Finland is also not a colonizer but as a member of the EU shares that blame. There isn't much we can do about this.
sep 1, 2025, 11:44 am • 1 0 • view
If people don't understand that we want to be safe and have a right to be safe... 🤷🏻♀️
sep 1, 2025, 11:44 am • 0 0 • view