With Ukraine’s Resources, Putin Could Be Unstoppable (Telegraph Essay Series Day 5)

5 comments

1. No paywall: [https://archive.ph/jIxod](https://archive.ph/jIxod)

   I’m not sure that I agree with this one as much as I do the other entries in the series. That said, it’s undeniable that the Ukranian SSR was an incredibly important contributor to the Soviet Union across essentially every metric from food production to manufacturing, so there’s no denying that it *would* provide Putin an advantage if seized, just like it would provide Europe an advantage if better integrated politically, economically, and militarily. And, as the article states, with Putin in control of those things already integrated into Europe and important world exports, and in the face of an unimaginably large refugee crisis, his ability to leverage this resources to further Russias political aims would be disastrous.

   ………

   I’m finding this series to be excellent overviews of Russia’s motivations, and what the world risks if they win. Kind of a “Why We Fight” in essay form.

   Though it’s obviously biased towards Ukraine, I’m finding it to be high quality, insightful, and useful as a primer for those that perhaps haven’t been following the war for themselves (or, like certain voters, forming their view based on what the loudest politicians say), even as the West gets more and more involved. To quote a friend : “I didn’t realize it was that bad.”

   To the end that it might help to direct others to these, here’s a running list of the articles to date:

   Telegraph Landing Page For The Other Essays in This Series: [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/what-if-putin-wins/](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/what-if-putin-wins/)

   Running list of no paywall links to previous articles in this series posted so far:

   Putin’s Plans For NATO Are Reaching Their Devastating Climax: [https://archive.ph/Z8plZ](https://archive.ph/Z8plZ)

   Putin’s Master Plan For Europe Is Bearing Fruit:
   [https://archive.ph/lPWiS](https://archive.ph/lPWiS)

   If Putin Wins, Expect the Worst Genocide in Europe Since the Holocaust: [https://archive.ph/BqISB](https://archive.ph/BqISB)

   Putin’s Next Conquests Are Already In His Sights: [https://archive.ph/xnYu2](https://archive.ph/xnYu2)

   With Ukraine’s Resources, Putin Could be Unstoppable:
   [https://archive.ph/jIxod](https://archive.ph/jIxod)

2. >Giving up on Ukraine would be giving Russia a gift of epic proportions: a depopulated agricultural bastion replete with some of the world’s most coveted resources.

   >***Each delay in aid, each kilometre gained by Russia on the battlefield in its push westward, brings the Kremlin closer to that ultimate reward.***

   Exactly.

3. Let me preface this by stating that I do not think Russia will win this war. Strategically, they have already lost.

   But, lets say they conquer all of Ukraine. Russia would be so far up shits creek trying to hold it, that they couldnt do much else. They would have to commit vast resources of men and materiel to control such a large population. Also, there would be ongoing guerrilla style warfare amongst “partisans” and the Russians. The borders would be conducive to an insurgency. Putin would literally have to raze all of Ukraine to the ground, in order to control it. He would have to, and then eventually move in more Russians after the “Ukrainians” have been dealt with. 

   This process would take years. Its different than forcing the Ukrainians to attack the Germans with meatwave tactics during WW2; as Ukraine was already part of the Soviet Union then, and their anger was already directed at the Germans. Now, that anger is directed at Russia and Ukraine is fighting to hold onto its own identity. The Ukrainians cant stop, no matter what kind of “victory” Russia achieves, if that were to be the case.

   Russia probably won’t be able to just keep going if it did conquer Ukraine. It would be bogged down in a different stage of war. Not to mention, many European countries (at the very least), would have already entered the conflict on behalf of Ukraine. Im speaking from near worst-case scenario.

4. This is the weakest of the series and highly speculative. Many resources that are named, are not scarce or even needed as there are many alternatives available. Like gas or lithium. Ukraine really doesn’t produce any revolutionary weapons, they mainly work because of the total incompetence of Russia.

5. Not unstoppable, but much much much more difficult to stop and more dangerous. And this time kids from Western countries will be in the trenches.