"Baba, bombs are raining down on Kiev." This was a panic message sent by a son to his father in the wee hours of February 24, 2022 when Russia attacked Ukraine.
Though most of the physical destructions of a war are restricted to the war zone, but its ripple effects in the form of mental and emotional agony and trauma followed by economic jolts transcend the borders soon.
Dr Ali was feeling the agony in the same way while sitting about 3,786 kilometres away in Pakistan, like the thousands of others in the Ukranian capital.
“After reading my son's message, I frantically started calling him and his friends to find out about him,” Dr Ali recalled.
Dr Ali holds a residence permit in Ukraine. He migrated to Ukraine in the Soviet era in the late 1980s for medical studies. His son is a Ukrainian citizen who graduated in journalism and history.
The first attack was so intense that it rendered the country's 70 percent airports out of function, Dr Ali added in anguish.
He said that he was receiving shocking news about the looming fall of Kiev in the hands of Russians. My friends informed me that they (Russians) are marching fast to the capital city.
At the time, Ukraine was facing a serious existential threat which could be gauged by the fact that the president of the United States made a call to the Ukrainian president and offered to evacuate him.
But President Zelenskyy’s historical reply was, “I need ammunitions, not a ride,” This, Dr Ali thinks, changed the course of the war and history.
Followed by this was a Ukrainian navy's refusal to surrender the strategically important Sneak Island. The Russian forces surrounded the Island and sent a radio message for the surrender but the response of the Ukrainian soldier, who refused to do so, inflamed spirits throughout the country.
My son was constantly on the move but luckily, I succeeded to reestablish contact with him on February 25. “Baba I made it to Khmelnisky,” he informed. The town is 300 km to the west of Ukraine where his grandparents lived.
Upon his arrival in the city, he joined the war as a volunteer. It began to get further intense for Dr Ali. “I lost contact with him again. On March 2, he called me to inform about his new location of the Yavoriv military base in Lviv.
"This news was a bombshell for me. NATO was providing training to the Ukrainian army in the base and thus it was an strategically important place. While I was unable to establish contact with my son, I received the news that the place had been heavily bombed by the Russian forces.”
On March 7, the young man called again to inform his father that he will be moving to the front soon. It was the time when thousands of Ukrainian men and women were joining the war as volunteers. But the problem was my son had nothing except a pairs of jeans and a sweater on him. So, through friends in Ukraine, I arranged some money and wished luck to him.
While answering the question about the reasons for the attack, Ali opined that Ukraine's quest to join NATO and Russian sensitivity to the forces on its borders was a mere excuse.
Though Ukrainians are fighting valiantly on the ground and have repulsed the Russian from a number of regions, forcing the country to heavily depend on its airpower.
On the other hand, somehow, Europe managed the nightmare of energy crisis this winter but, as predicted by Dudayev, there will be more awaiting for the continent in case Ukraine collapses.
“NATO forces were already on the Russian borders as three Baltic States; Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were already members of the alliance; the Ukraine war manifests the long-held Russian quest for superiority, not only towards Central Asia, but also Europe."
Since the republics of Belarus and Ukraine had special status in the Soviet Union and there were efforts of Russification of Ukrainian culture, though not as blatant as in recent times. In recent years, Russia's intolerance to other cultures in the region, particularly in Ukraine, was obvious and pronounced.
In this regard, Dr Ali quoted the late Ichkerian (Chechen) president Dzhokhar Dudayev's famous interview of 1995. Dudayev was a general in the Soviet airforce and latter became the president of Chechenia. He was killed in an air attack by the Russian forces in 1996.
In the interview 27 years ago, Dudayev made some prophetic predictions about the Russian designs. Astonishingly, some of the predictions are proving to be true. He had said, “Again, they [Russians] want to subjugate Ukraine and Belarus.” His prophecy was that Afghanistan (in the 1980s) disturbed Russia's ‘appetite' a little bit and later, Ichkeria had upset its ‘taste' but the tendency was still there.
To sum up the Russia expansionist designs and quest for establishing superiority, Dudayev had coined the term ‘Russism' for it. While analysing the case, he predicted the situation in his unique style that he sees massacre in Crimea, ‘a bad clash' in Ukraine and a ‘slap’ for Europe. Based on Dudayev’s analysis, one can derive that currently, Ukraine plays the role of a buffer for Europe.
For a year now, Russia has been unable to break the Ukrainians' resolve and resilience to defend their independence. Until now, they have showed unprecedented resolve, courage to defend their land. But for how long without a substantial assistance from Europe?
Though Ukrainians are fighting valiantly on the ground and have repulsed the Russian from a number of regions, forcing the country to heavily depend on its airpower.
On the other hand, somehow, Europe managed the nightmare of energy crisis this winter but, as predicted by Dudayev, there will be more awaiting for the continent in case Ukraine collapses.
Hypothetically, two factors may halt the drive of ‘Russism’; sufficient European and American military assistance for Ukraine, and in the long-term, the internal quest for democratisation of the Russian society.
Though most of the physical destructions of a war are restricted to the war zone, but its ripple effects in the form of mental and emotional agony and trauma followed by economic jolts transcend the borders soon.
Dr Ali was feeling the agony in the same way while sitting about 3,786 kilometres away in Pakistan, like the thousands of others in the Ukranian capital.
“After reading my son's message, I frantically started calling him and his friends to find out about him,” Dr Ali recalled.
Dr Ali holds a residence permit in Ukraine. He migrated to Ukraine in the Soviet era in the late 1980s for medical studies. His son is a Ukrainian citizen who graduated in journalism and history.
The first attack was so intense that it rendered the country's 70 percent airports out of function, Dr Ali added in anguish.
He said that he was receiving shocking news about the looming fall of Kiev in the hands of Russians. My friends informed me that they (Russians) are marching fast to the capital city.
At the time, Ukraine was facing a serious existential threat which could be gauged by the fact that the president of the United States made a call to the Ukrainian president and offered to evacuate him.
But President Zelenskyy’s historical reply was, “I need ammunitions, not a ride,” This, Dr Ali thinks, changed the course of the war and history.
Followed by this was a Ukrainian navy's refusal to surrender the strategically important Sneak Island. The Russian forces surrounded the Island and sent a radio message for the surrender but the response of the Ukrainian soldier, who refused to do so, inflamed spirits throughout the country.
My son was constantly on the move but luckily, I succeeded to reestablish contact with him on February 25. “Baba I made it to Khmelnisky,” he informed. The town is 300 km to the west of Ukraine where his grandparents lived.
Upon his arrival in the city, he joined the war as a volunteer. It began to get further intense for Dr Ali. “I lost contact with him again. On March 2, he called me to inform about his new location of the Yavoriv military base in Lviv.
"This news was a bombshell for me. NATO was providing training to the Ukrainian army in the base and thus it was an strategically important place. While I was unable to establish contact with my son, I received the news that the place had been heavily bombed by the Russian forces.”
On March 7, the young man called again to inform his father that he will be moving to the front soon. It was the time when thousands of Ukrainian men and women were joining the war as volunteers. But the problem was my son had nothing except a pairs of jeans and a sweater on him. So, through friends in Ukraine, I arranged some money and wished luck to him.
While answering the question about the reasons for the attack, Ali opined that Ukraine's quest to join NATO and Russian sensitivity to the forces on its borders was a mere excuse.
For a year now, Russia has been unable to break the Ukrainians' resolve and resilience to defend their independence. Until now, they have showed unprecedented resolve, courage to defend their land. But for how long without a substantial assistance from Europe?
Though Ukrainians are fighting valiantly on the ground and have repulsed the Russian from a number of regions, forcing the country to heavily depend on its airpower.
On the other hand, somehow, Europe managed the nightmare of energy crisis this winter but, as predicted by Dudayev, there will be more awaiting for the continent in case Ukraine collapses.
Though Ukrainians are fighting valiantly on the ground and have repulsed the Russian from a number of regions, forcing the country to heavily depend on its airpower.
On the other hand, somehow, Europe managed the nightmare of energy crisis this winter but, as predicted by Dudayev, there will be more awaiting for the continent in case Ukraine collapses.
“NATO forces were already on the Russian borders as three Baltic States; Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were already members of the alliance; the Ukraine war manifests the long-held Russian quest for superiority, not only towards Central Asia, but also Europe."
Since the republics of Belarus and Ukraine had special status in the Soviet Union and there were efforts of Russification of Ukrainian culture, though not as blatant as in recent times. In recent years, Russia's intolerance to other cultures in the region, particularly in Ukraine, was obvious and pronounced.
In this regard, Dr Ali quoted the late Ichkerian (Chechen) president Dzhokhar Dudayev's famous interview of 1995. Dudayev was a general in the Soviet airforce and latter became the president of Chechenia. He was killed in an air attack by the Russian forces in 1996.
In the interview 27 years ago, Dudayev made some prophetic predictions about the Russian designs. Astonishingly, some of the predictions are proving to be true. He had said, “Again, they [Russians] want to subjugate Ukraine and Belarus.” His prophecy was that Afghanistan (in the 1980s) disturbed Russia's ‘appetite' a little bit and later, Ichkeria had upset its ‘taste' but the tendency was still there.
To sum up the Russia expansionist designs and quest for establishing superiority, Dudayev had coined the term ‘Russism' for it. While analysing the case, he predicted the situation in his unique style that he sees massacre in Crimea, ‘a bad clash' in Ukraine and a ‘slap’ for Europe. Based on Dudayev’s analysis, one can derive that currently, Ukraine plays the role of a buffer for Europe.
For a year now, Russia has been unable to break the Ukrainians' resolve and resilience to defend their independence. Until now, they have showed unprecedented resolve, courage to defend their land. But for how long without a substantial assistance from Europe?
Though Ukrainians are fighting valiantly on the ground and have repulsed the Russian from a number of regions, forcing the country to heavily depend on its airpower.
On the other hand, somehow, Europe managed the nightmare of energy crisis this winter but, as predicted by Dudayev, there will be more awaiting for the continent in case Ukraine collapses.
Hypothetically, two factors may halt the drive of ‘Russism’; sufficient European and American military assistance for Ukraine, and in the long-term, the internal quest for democratisation of the Russian society.