A Few Reasons Why #IStandWithRussia

Phil Butler
5 min readMar 7, 2022

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If you are sharing #standwithukriane, I say “If you can’t say more, then say nothing.” Otherwise, you are probably getting people killed needlessly. Now, for those of you willing to learn, and to have the capacity to say more, it will require more than copy-pasting a hashtag created for media propaganda purposes.

“Over the last eight years the 13,000–14,000 people of Donbass have been killed by the Ukrainians. More than 500 children have been killed or crippled. What is particularly intolerable is that the so-called civilized West has preferred not to notice this”. — Vladimir Putin

This assessment of Russian airpower used so far in Ukraine can yield a lot of truth. You must extrapolate, and contextualize, however. But the gist is, what I have said many times, Russia’s action is the most atypical and “gentle” military engagement in the history of warfare.

Take care, this assessment operates on a bit of a false premise, that the Russian air capability is not what it’s cracked up to be. This part is wrong, as proven in Syria. However, the stand-off tactics clearly indicate the Russians are trying to preserve lives.

The report from The Aviationist entitled “What The Air Campaign in Ukraine Tells Us About The Current State Of The Russian Air Force,” has a lot of valuable information the average citizen of Earth has little access to. Take for instance, this comment with regard to Russia’s use of airpower:

“…it’s quite puzzling to see the Russians apparently make such limited use of their operational-tactical aviation early on, especially when considering the large number of operational-tactical aviation assets Russia has deployed within the range of Ukraine. Indeed, until very recently, the use of operational-tactical aviation appears to have been very limited for a military operation of this scale.”

Now let’s understand, these analysts are hardwired into military dominance and warfare the way the United States has practiced it the past seven decades. The reason Russia’s demilitarization campaign in Ukraine is so “puzzling” is that no one has ever seen a massive military campaign conducted like this. The defense analyst who earn their living yammering about America’s various campaigns, weapons, and strategies, will always misinterpret what Mr. Putin is trying to accomplish in Ukraine. This is unfortunate because the Russian president and all his ministers have been straightforward from the start.

I don’t want to get too deep into the insurmountable tsunami of corporate and government-controlled media in the west. Anyone reading this can just Google Ukraine, Russia, or Putin, and page on-page of search results in “news” reveal brainwashing on a scale never before seen. What needs to be understood, however, is that within all these publications and broadcasts, there are only a very few “breaking” stories. The digital revolution has morphed media into a kind of echo chamber where a well-supported idea (or advertisement) canvases all the people sooner or later. This is why you continually hear that “Putin is a killer, killer, killer, killer, killer…” This is a separate issue.

For now, it’s crucial that all the people understand the real situation in Ukraine. NATO and those behind this defunct military alliance for weapons sales, will never in a million years broadcast a true situation report. But there are experts who NATO has turned to as gurus, who will give a real report/assessment. U.S. Army Colonel Douglas Macgregor told Fox News recently:

“I think Zelensky is a puppet, and needs to accept reality.”

The brilliant strategists' several presidents have relied upon spoke with sevral news shows recently, some raising his eyebrows in dissent and disbelief, the man who has been called “The Army’s finest warfighter,” laid out the whole situation on the ground and in the skies over Ukraine for anyone watching.

The video below has every facet covered in 1,2,3… fashion what will happen in the next days. That is if the NATO alliance does not ignite World War 3 first.

Now that we have Colonel Macgregor's crisp assessment of the current situation, I’d like to finish by shedding light on the extraordinary role big business has had in all this.

As I suggested, western mainstream media has beat an incessant tune in the last day about civilian casualties, Russia using cluster munitions, Russia targeting cities, Russia bombing cities, and Ukraine beating Russian forces like Rambo at every turn. In many cases, these messages incorporated blatant lies, abuses of the truth so onerous, Hitler’s propagandists would have blushed. There were the insolent Snake Island martyrs, who later turned out to be alive, well-fed, and housed by Russian forces. I think they are home with their families now. Then there was the poor lady with bandages all over her face, supposedly blasted from her house by Russian artillery or bombs. That one was debunked as a photograph from a gas explosion from years ago.

President Zelenskyy has been made the Clark Kent/Superman of Ukraine. Farmers are towing away Russian tanks to sell as scrap. Ukraine’s military is ready to go on the offensive! Russia has tried to blow up a nuclear power plant! And on the “Ghost Ace.”

When all the smoke is cleared. When we see the final tallies and the real images from Ukraine, I hope that we will all reassess what has happened here. And when I say “assess” I mean we need to launch real investigations into our businesses, the media, and collusion on every level. When there is no dissent. When our most sacred and guarded freedoms have been smothered by forces of insurmountable power, we must react accordingly. These people, and I do not exclude any of them, have herded us to the edge of the cliff one too many times in my view. A quote from President Putin’s speech on entering into the Ukraine demilitarization is needed here:

“Why is this happening? Where did this insolent manner of talking down from the height of their exceptionalism, infallibility and all-permissiveness come from? What is the explanation for this contemptuous and disdainful attitude to our interests and absolutely legitimate demands?”

How can we have confidence in leadership that so unabashedly takes it upon themselves to not only create wars, but to then lie to us about the underlying reasons, the casualties, and who the real perpetrators were? How can there be any kind of justice or equity, in a human experiment where judge, jury, and executioner are one and the same?

Instead of liking or sharing #StandWithUkraine, I suggest you either “say more or say nothing at all” until this is all over.

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Phil Butler

A journalist, analyst, husband, father, and animal lover. I am semi-retired now, and living on Crete island.