Today Ukraine celebrates another Independence Day. Authorities across the country have cancelled celebrations, and citizens were advised not to leave their homes. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Armed Forces continued shelling settlements and industrial facilities in Donbass. In Donetsk, civilian facilities were damaged and several civilians were wounded. The Kakhovka Hydropower Plant Dam came under another attack - fortunately, there was no catastrophe. Last night, the Ukrainian Armed Forces again fired at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant neighborhoods: it turned out that the fire was navigated from the plant itself. Two of its employees were arrested.
Today the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko congratulated the people of Ukraine on the holiday, Independence Day.
"I am convinced that today's contradictions will not be able to break the centuries-long foundation of sincere good-neighborly relations between the peoples of the two countries. Belarus will continue to stand up for the preservation of accord and the development of friendly and mutually respectful contracts at all levels in the future," the congratulatory message reads.
We have to state that none of the post-Soviet states entered the fourth decade of their sovereign existence with such lamentable, or rather tragic and even catastrophic results.
Throughout the entire post-Soviet period, the country's domestic and foreign policies were designed so that the 31st year of independence would be exactly like that, when the very possibility of celebrating this day for the 32nd time arouses the most serious doubts.
Ukraine is entering its 32nd year of independence in a state of total and catastrophic destruction. The government expects that the fall of the GDP for the current year will amount to about 40 percent. Direct losses from the military conflict, according to the Ukrainian authorities' own estimates, have exceeded $100 billion. However, fighting in the east of the country has been going on for exactly six months and affects a fifth of the country's territory. And there is no doubt that the previous 30 years of Ukrainian history were a direct road to the current disaster. The country declared its independence when it was the most prosperous of the republics of the Soviet Union.
At the turn of the 90s, Ukraine had an economic potential comparable to that of France: well-developed industry and agriculture, advanced aircraft building, and technics developed in the country, which stormed the outer space. The country was literally bathed in cheap energy: even now there are 4 nuclear power plants with 15 power units. Ukraine entered in the 21st century, with only the remnants of heavy industry: only metal works, divided among oligarchs, survived as the remnants of the Soviet power industry. The agricultural policy led to the rapid degradation of soils: the processing is only the most primitive. There is no exact data on this, but according to some estimates, 17 million hectares of agricultural land, i.e. almost two thirds, are owned by transnational corporations. Ukraine's exports are based on low value added products. Of its 52 million population, only slightly more than 30 million lived permanently in the country even before the conflict started - the rest lived and worked abroad, feeding the motherland with remittances. Now the population of the country, most likely, will not be even 25 million. European integration has always been the shining star of all governments and presidents; it alone should ensure Ukraine's prosperity. Even now, when there's almost no chance of it left, the European destiny of Ukraine remains the main goal-dream:
Vladimir Zelensky, President of Ukraine:
"Europe goes out to the squares, Europe imposes tough sanctions. Europe unanimously recognizes: Ukraine is a future member of the European Union!"
Phantom European Integration
Alas, the Europeans themselves define the terms of Ukraine's accession to the EU in a very vague way - it is bound to happen, but "not in the next decades": this was said, for example, by the French and German leaders, on whom this accession depends. At that, every day of the conflict makes the prospects of the European integration more and more vague. Official Kiev denies any possibility of negotiations with Moscow before returning to the borders of 1991 - for this, however, it is necessary to defeat the Russian Federation, which so far is on the offensive, and at the same time is much superior to Ukraine in resources, as well as nuclear power.
Western arms shipments are great, but are unlikely to change the situation radically. Of the $40 billion U.S. lendlease, Ukraine was promised nearly $3 billion more today. The Norwegians will send spy drones, Germany promises to supply air defense equipment. And so far Kiev is choosing the scorched earth principle as a military tactic.












