Sarah Wishnevsky: Russia started it

A resident cleans up a damaged apartment in a multi-story residential building house in Kyiv after a Russian night drone attack on March 23. AP PHOTO/EFREM LUKATSKY

Published: 03-25-2025 6:27 PM

I write in response to Lundy Bancroft’s March 14 letter “Negotiate, don’t escalate,” which uncritically echoes the counterfactual talking points of the Russo-Ukrainian War’s unconditional aggressor: Russia under the authoritarian regime of Vladimir Putin.

In 2014, the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine ousted corrupt pro-Putin President Viktor Yanukovych. In response, Russia organized separatist violence in largely Russian-speaking eastern regions of Ukraine. Unmarked Russian troops invaded Crimea, with Russia annexing Crimea after a referendum held under military occupation.

Russian-backed separatists also proclaimed independence in Donetsk and Luhansk. Russian involvement is confirmed by communications obtained by hackers and news media outlets.

The European Court of Human Rights adjudicated that Russia has controlled Donetsk and Luhansk from 2014 onward. In 2014 and 2015, Russia and Ukraine signed the Minsk agreements. These agreements were never implemented and Russia continued annexation operations.

In 2019, Volodymyr Zelenskyy was elected president of Ukraine on an anti-corruption and peace with Russia platform. Zelenskyy repeatedly attempted to negotiate withdrawal of Russian troops from occupied Ukrainian territories in return for Ukraine’s willingness to respect elections held there.

In 2021, amid a massive Russian military buildup on Ukraine’s borders, Putin made expansionist claims while denying Ukraine’s right to exist. In 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in force — murdering, raping, and torturing civilians. Ukraine has been fighting an existential war against a would-be conqueror ever since.

Demands that Ukraine unilaterally “disarm” under these circumstances are the equivalent of suggesting that Britain “disarm” in the face of Hitler’s war machine.

Sarah Wishnevsky

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