Thanks to Juergen Klein for the reply to my letter (September 25).
I should inform Juergen the I’ve studied Russian and Soviet history at university and visited the country twice, so I do have some knowledge of that region.
Any student of Russian history will tell you that Russia is the last of the European imperial powers to give up Imperialism. Its invasion of Ukraine is classic colonialism using all the old tricks… divide and conquer, population removal, terrorising Ukrainians into submission, transplanting Russians into occupied lands, even kidnapping local children to be raised in Russian homes. All sound familiar?
This isn’t unique to Russia, but given their track record it’s no surprise that many of its neighbours are clamouring to join NATO and the EU.
Who cares what territory the US and USSR carved up in 1989! This is 2024. Ukraine is a sovereign, democratic state which can make an alliance with anyone it so desires.
If you neighboured a nuclear-armed, autocratic giant with no qualms about sacrificing its own people let alone yours, you wouldn’t need much persuasion either! Putin’s thuggery has so far backfired. Even Sweden has broken 300 years of neutrality to join NATO – thanks entirely to Russian aggression in Ukraine.
There’s plenty of misery and suffering in Russian history. Dictator Putin is just the latest in a long line of strongmen who have misinterpreted world trends. That’s what comes of living in ivory towers.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
