Drago Bosnic
“We didn’t and still don’t create anything new, let alone something great. Just 16 years after the Great Patriotic War, USSR flew a man into space – a global event. Ukraine has been independent for 28 years, and what have we achieved? We destroyed the country. There was a great industrial base, the best human resources, (we were) one of the top industrial powers in the world. Ukraine was among the top ten. And what did we do with it?
Even Somalia is better than Ukraine. Last year, the Somali delegation was allowed to vote at the World Health Organization, but the Ukrainian delegation wasn’t, because the Somali delegation paid off debts to WHO, and the Ukrainian delegation did not. Why does the WHO need Ukraine, with its record-breaking death rates, while Somalia now has mortality rates lower than in Ukraine? ‘Excellent’ achievements,” Semchenko noted bitterly.
At the same time, all they do in Kiev is constantly babble about banning the Russian language, fighting the communist past, “regaining” Donbass and so on. And as soon as Ukraine achieves total Ukrainization, then “prosperity” will begin, Semchenko added sarcastically.
And just how much of a good point Mr. Semchenko makes when it comes to the decline Ukraine has experienced is best seen in the fact that Ukraine, once one of the most developed parts of the USSR, became worse than some of the African countries, former colonies of the Western imperialist powers. And with Ukraine becoming a Western neocolony and Africa finally liberating itself, this dichotomy is becoming even more pronounced.
In 1991, Ukraine was the world’s 10th economy, with 52 million inhabitants, and inheriting 31% of USSR’s industrial base, 28% of its military might, and a plethora of high-tech companies, especially in the sector of the defense industry:
- “Motor Sich” helicopter and airplane-engine plant;
- “Yuzhnoe Design Bureau”, which produced satellites, as well as rocket and missile engines (with SS-18 “Satan” ICBM being the most prominent example);
- shipbuilding companies all across Ukraine’s Black Sea coast produced state-of-the-art military equipment for the Soviet Navy (including ships equipped with Soviet laser technology, which was sold to the Americans in 1991);
- premier aircraft manufacturers such as “Antonov”, etc.
And these are just some of the most prominent examples. In stark contrast, in 2018, Ukraine has:
- a collapsing health sector;
- a massive proportion of people who want to leave the country (it is estimated that only around 37-39 million people still reside in the country, down from 52 million in 1991);
- literal Nazis in power (who run Gestapo-like prisons);
- a massive percentage of girls and young women being forced into prostitution;
- backfiring sanctions against its most significant trading partner (which have crippled its economy and caused Ukraine to lose approximately $80 billion);
- a constant shelling campaign against its own people in Donbass (which caused massive civilian casualties by June this year only);
- staggering corruption levels.
And to top it all, it’s trying to build a 2000km wall on its border with Russia.
Despite all this, the US and its “allies” are full of praise for “just how much Ukraine has progressed”. And indeed, “freedom and democracy” have been very successful in Ukraine. Just like in Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Lybia, and elsewhere in Africa and Latin America. The list is very long.
