In Episode 143 [17] of the CounterVortex podcast [18], Bill Weinberg notes the all too telling irony that Putin's annexation [19] of Ukraine's Donbas region came on exactly the same day [20] as the 1938 Munich Agreement [21], which approved Hitler's annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland [22] region. Russian annexation of the Donbas was preceded by that of Crimea, just as the Nazi annexation of Sudetenland was preceded by that of Austria [23]. This is the same pattern of escalation toward world war—only this time Putin's overt nuclear threats [24] make the stakes even higher. Signs of hope include the anti-draft uprising [25] in Russia and mass exodus [26] of Russian youth, which undermine Putin's war effort and threaten his very regime. War Resisters International [27] has issued a petition [28] demanding that European states offer asylum to all Russian deserters and conscientious objectors to military service. Alas, much of the Western "left" continues to cover up [29] for Putin's criminal aggression. Dissident websites such as CounterVortex [30] and Balkan Witness [31] debunk the Russian war propaganda being recycled by Putin's internet partisans on the pro-fascist pseudo-left.
Listen on SoundCloud [17] or via Patreon [34].
Book discussed: Encyclopedia of the Third Reich [35] by Louis L. Snyder
Production by Chris Rywalt [36]
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