by Charles Bausman, The Unz Review:
Novorossiya will once again be a Russian economic powerhouse and a magnet for migrants from Europe and the US, as it has been for centuries.
What? you say? Isn’t it a war zone? Well, yes, but it looks like the war might end soon, and certainly with Russia keeping what it currently holds, and possibly a great deal more. However it comes out, this region will be very attractive for Westerners moving to Russia, a growing trend since Putin opened Russia to immigration from Europe and North America. This might sound counterintuitive, so let me explain. To understand why, one needs to know something about history of these lands, which are not ‘Ukrainian’, rather Russian, their correct historical name being ‘Novorossiya.’
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The sky as we drove South through Lipetsk.
I recently returned from 4 days in the Donetsk Republic, and what I found was one of the most unexpected I’ve ever encountered in this enormous country, which is saying a lot. I went at the invitation the Donetsk government, whose goal it was to promote their side of the story regarding the war, and I was put on a jam-packed program focusing on this. Even for me who followed the conflict very closely from 2014 – 2018 or so, it was a big eye-opener. I don’t follow it as closely these days, and while curious about the latest developments, don’t write about it, because so many others do exhaustively. Before going, a Russian friend was explaining the history of this part of Russia going back a couple of centuries, and this is something I realized IS very relevant to future migration to Russia from the West, and I tried to gather as much info about that while there.
Entire villages flattened near Avdeevka. Not a single structure left standing.
Our program consisted of being shuttled around from morning till night to locations relevant to the war: buildings in the capital city of Donetsk completely obliterated by the odd rocket which landed in central, civilian areas, museums dedicated to the war, meetings with military priests, visits to churches damaged by shelling, to recent front lines where the destruction of former towns and villages was well-nigh complete, vast amounts of destroyed NATO equipment littered all over the place, very impressive new war memorials everywhere lionizing the heroes of her remarkable defense over the last 10 years and tear-inducing ones mourning the martyrdom of her women and children, and endless conversation with our hosts and their friends, themselves military men who have been there since it all started in 2014. We took a day-trip to Mariupol where we were shown the mind-boggling scale of urban reconstruction underway. I’ve been posting a lot of this Twitter, and will be posting more.
A German tank with US Maxpro infantry combat vehicles behind them. The logo of the manufacturer, “Rheinmetall” is visible on the front of the tank.
To me, the most important insight was how these 10 tough years have affected the psychology of the people who have remained, bringing out the best in people, purifying them, as it were, and crucially, strengthening their Orthodox faith. I was traveling with the Russian Christian TV Channel Spas, so we met many Christians, and I was struck by how many of them there were, especially in the military. But before I explain that, some history.
A US Maxpro infantry combat vehicle burned to a crisp.
First of all, some basics. You may have noticed that on this blog, and on Twitter, I put ‘Ukraine’ and ‘Ukrainians’ in quotation marks, and often just refer to them as Russians. I keep having to repeat this, because so many people on our side keep referring to ‘Ukrainians’, as if this describes a people or ethnicity. This is falling into the enemy’s little word tricks, and it misleads even the best people. So for the 100th time, there is not now, and never ever has been, a ‘Ukrainian’ people, ethnicity, language (real), literature, or national consciousness. This is vital to fully grasp what follows. They always have been, and are Russians, and have ever thought of themselves that way. I can write a whole article about this backed by facts, but for now, just trust me, this is the truth.
