Dear President of the Russian Federation, I read with interest your words, following the use of a new hypersonic missile. Your speech begins with: "I would like to inform the military personnel of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the citizens of our country, our friends around the world and those who persist in the illusion that Russia can be inflicted with a strategic defeat, about the events taking place today in the zone of the special military operation, in particular as a result of the strikes with Western long-range weapons against our territory”.
My observations may seem harsh to you, but I invite you to consider them carefully.
Russia, dear President, cannot suffer a strategic defeat because this one has already taken place on February 24, 2022. On that day, everything that his country had built in over 30 years – albeit with ups and downs – was compromised in an instant. Of course, Russia was no longer the Soviet empire, but neither was it the vassal which she became the next day. I use this term consciously: she certainly had capable and intelligent people around her and I wonder if they had the opportunity to warn her that the clumsy West, with its Ukrainian trap, would have had only one real beneficiary: China.
In Italy they say "Friends are seen in times of need", I think in your country they say "Друг познаётся в беде" (A friend is recognized in difficulties). The panda is considered a gentle and peaceful animal, far from the aggressive image typical of the bear, however today the war has given us a new feature: when it is behind it and the beast is on the ground, the tender "friend" takes advantage of it. You will know better than us how deeply: politically, economically, industrially and militarily.
In light of this, I imagine you too will read with contempt the appeals for peace sent by too many naive people to Beijing. However, the ongoing "special military operation" must show smiles and to reach out to to the “benevolent” hand of the emperor...
The habit of using the word “operation” dates back to the Soviet times, when the Afghan war deeply affected your generation. Then the fallen and wounded were just a fraction of the current ones (and in a decade!). If you want to support the thesis that you are winning, try using the term "war". It will be a legal problem and with public opinion, but it is correct. It is appropriate to do so especially today that has raised the conflict to a global level and that, contradicting himself, defends theinviolability of Russian territory. It has been global for almost three years and “Russian” territory is regularly violated in fact since it annexed part of Ukraine.
Dear President, February 24, 2024 triggered World War III. The feverish preparations underway for the global confrontation are not directed against Russia but of a much greater magnitude. This fact alone should make you understand how much it is and has been used for something else... The real War has yet to begin and there will be one actor dramatically defeated. I'll give you a hint: I'm not referring to you, the United States or India.
It may still have an impact on the human cost of the tragedy, but - absolutely - not on the final outcome.
More voices will be needed, in a few years, to inaugurate a new long era: those of leaders capable of playing chess, not a banal checkers. People capable of appreciating Chekhov, no longer Dostoevsky.
Best regards.
Andrea Cucco
Photo: Kremlin
