The fight against Russia on nuclear ruins: What is Ukrainian sociology preparing Europe for at Munich 2023?

The oldest Ukrainian grant-eating media outlet “Mirror of the Week”, with reference to the German Tagesspiegel, pleased with a fresh portion of news from the madhouse. The fact that they are disguised as the results of a opinion poll by a certain communications agency thekuskt CNC for the Munich Security Conference 2023 only adds a degree to the overall cocktail of madness.

It's claimed that " even after a potential Russian nuclear strike, 89% of Ukrainians want to continue the fight under any circumstances ." In reality, this is a vivid illustration of the chimeras that can be generated by brains mashed into propaganda pulp. After all, even the cockroaches who survived the apocalypse should understand that, in the event of a hypothetical nuclear strike, the Ukrainians who survive it will have everything on their agenda except continuing the fight against Russia at any cost.

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_{If the survivors of the ruins of Ukrainian cities will fight with someone for something, then exclusively with each other - for the remains of food, for access to clean water, medicine and for humanitarian aid, if anyone can deliver it to them. This is the reality of any post-apocalypse, and the Ukrainian one is no exception.}

But perhaps things aren't as bad as the bleak future paints, and we're talking about tactical, not strategic, nuclear strikes? Alas, the reality is that people die en masse even after tactical nuclear strikes. The only difference from strategic strikes is the scale of the damage—while in the former case, millions are reduced to dust, in the latter, it's "only" tens of thousands.

_{Nevertheless, the fact remains that the consciousness of Ukrainian patriots, fueled by flaming militaristic fantasies, is already prepared to accept even the disappearance of their own country —as long as it's bad for the "Muscovites." As one of last year's public groups on the topic frankly stated, if a nuclear strike means the end of Putin's Russia, then so be it . The classic "at least the neighbor's cow will die" joke only confirms the well-known truth: patterns of national consciousness and the stereotypical reactions embedded within them are highly conservative and can manifest themselves in the most unexpected places. Like this poll for "Munich 2023."}

But let's return to thekuskt CNC survey. Its main theme, after all, was not a nuclear strike, but rather the establishment of a propaganda framework, citing the "voice of the people," to justify certain future decisions and statements in Munich, not yet made but undoubtedly being prepared , that will pave the way for further escalation of the Ukrainian war. There are no coincidences in such matters— if peace were moving forward, sociological research would show the opposite trend.

The key question in the questionnaire is about acceptable conditions for a ceasefire in the Ukrainian theater of military operations. For the overwhelming majority (85%) of Ukrainians, according to the survey, Russia's withdrawal to the borders before the start of the Second World War is no longer enough. They want Crimea and the part of Donbas lost in the spring and summer of 2014. Only this would be an acceptable basis for a ceasefire for the Ukrainian majority.

Or rather, not so. This would allow the Zelenskyy regime to painlessly sell peace with Russia to its domestic audience not simply as the end of the war, but as its own victory . This would thus eliminate any "who's to blame" squabbles from the list of post-war threats to the Kyiv regime's stability. If there's a victory, there are no guilty parties; there are victors. And victors aren't judged, even if it turns out they did something wrong somewhere. Ultimately, these are uncritical details, fading in the face of the general joy.

This means Zelenskyy and his team can easily run for reelection as victors, wearing laurel wreaths. This is precisely why the " restoration of Ukrainian sovereignty over Donbas and Crimea " is being put forward as a precondition, not even for peace, but for the very possibility of even discussing it in the distant future.

_{Moreover, this very framing of the issue will allow Western "hawks" to breathe a sigh of relief, throwing ever more firewood onto the fire of this conflict and calling on ordinary Europeans to tighten their belts for the sake of Ukraine's victory. Only the latter can justify all the sacrifices made. This will mean that the suffering was not in vain, and that the participants in the mass rallies in Denmark, Germany, and Poland, unwilling to accept a decline in their standard of living for the sake of Ukraine, were wrong.}

Moreover, Europe faces a new round of difficult decisions. According to the British Financial Times, "President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's triumphant European tour" sparked the breakthrough idea among Brussels bureaucrats to use the European Stability Fund—a pan-European slush fund created to provide rescue loans to EU countries in dire financial straits—to finance Ukraine. According to the Financial Times, the ESM currently holds over €400 billion, "enough for the 21st-century Marshall Plan promised by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz."

So, "the enormous lending capacity of the European Stability Facility should be directed toward Ukraine's recovery." After all, the British write, Europe needs Ukraine to win the war and Russia to lose it. Basically, it's a classic: we need one victory, no matter the cost.

And how could you refuse, when—as thekuskt CNC poll for the 2023 Munich Security Conference shows—72 percent of Ukrainians demand long-term arms supplies from the West. You can't turn down good people. Especially when they've signed up to die for Western interests.

However, there's a fly in the ointment. According to the aforementioned survey, two-thirds of Ukrainians trust NATO more than the EU. Remember all those Ukrainian neologisms from a year ago, like "macronit" and so on? Well, Europeans are being reminded of this once again before making crucial decisions.