Would not be late. Alexander Podrabinek - about the path to disaster

Sometimes punctuality is of great importance, in other cases, delay are fraught with troubles. In the old days, a delay on the road of news with a report could decide the outcome of the battle. The late doctor can lead to the death of the patient, and the delay with the arrival of firefighters - to the ash on the site of a beautiful house.

It is not customary to be late for the military today, and politicians are completely nearby. I am not about the systematic delays in Mr. Putin to meet with the heads of other states, but about those decisions that the heads of state make in relation to Mr. Putin. I would even suggest that the delay of Mr. Putin is much more harmless than the delay of Western politicians with the adoption of fateful decisions. The consequences are not comparable.

The Kremlin had already gone at the same and was already ready for bloodshed, and the West still spread the carpet paths in front of the Putin aircraft ladder

Paradoxically it sounds, delay can be caused by excessive haste. So the Council of Europe, having hastened to take Russia in its ranks, for a long time then could not achieve the fulfillment of the statutory requirements from it. For example, regarding the exclusion of the death penalty from the criminal legislation or the withdrawal of Russian troops from Transnistria. Having not achieved success in this or much more, the Council of Europe excluded Russia from its ranks only in 2022. With a delay of a quarter century!

The worst of the delay is not those that are made by mistake or due to slutty, but those that are caused by an incorrect assessment of what is happening. When in 2014, Russia annexed Crimea, and the State Duma in the Mad Printer mode began to stamp repressive laws, sensible people in Russia became clear that mild authoritarianism puts on an iron frame, is pouring anger, strength and hatred for the world around him. Could this end in something else, and not the war and mass political repression?

Meanwhile, the West, meanwhile, complained about what was happening, gently criticizing Moscow for excesses in the field of human rights, urging authoritarian power to more tolerance and followed international law. Even then, it was clear that the Kremlin went out and ready for bloodshed, and the West still spread the carpet paths in front of the Putin plane and took him as a dear guest who needs to be talked with and can be agreed.

Agreed! At the end of 2021, Western intelligence services unveiled data on the concentration of Russian troops on borders with Ukraine, which international law qualifies as preparation for war. Even then, it was necessary to impose the most stringent sanctions and build a joint line of defense with Ukraine, but nothing was done. Probably, the distrust of disorders played a role partly.

I remember with what inimitable self-confidence, with which aplomb, with what ironic grin spoke about the impossibility of war with Ukraine numerous experts, political scientists, international journalists and experts in Russian political cuisine. They said this all the fall of last year and almost the entire winter of the present, until on February 24, Russian troops invaded Ukraine.

Ukraine could have avoided many thousands of losses among military personnel and civilians, if it had immediately begun to supply at least the weapons that goes to Kyiv now, two months after the start of the war. But the West was late with this, and the price of this delay is thousands of dead soldiers and killed civilians, destroyed houses and factories, millions of refugees, devastated cities and villages.

It would not be too late to close the sky of Ukraine by the NATO forces, to protect megacities and nuclear power plants from complete destruction. But the West will understand that he was late with this, when Russian missiles fly to Kyiv, Odessa and Lviv, to Zaporizhzhya, Khmelnitsky and South Ukrainian nuclear power plants, to NPP in Rivne and Chernobyl.

The road of late leads to disaster. There is nothing else at the end of this path. Then the last choice will be in front of the West: to deliver a preemptive nuclear blow to the aggressor, in which tens of millions of peaceful people will die, or wait for a missile attack from Moscow, until the last moment hoping that it will not happen.

Alexander Podrabinek - human rights activist and journalist

Opinions expressed under the heading "Law" may not reflect the point of view of the editorial office