The War as the Consequence: The Examination of How the Communist Remnants Led to Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine

: The paper presents the results of exploring Russia’s ecocidal and genocidal war on Ukraine, which started in 2014 from Crimea and Donbas, and continued in 2022 as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A lot of very important aspects have been analyzed in the paper concerning the Ukrainian and the whole civilized world’s victory in the fight for human rights and freedom against the ‘state sponsoring terrorism and using terrorist means’ Russia and its died ideologies, such as communism, the ‘Russian world,’ the imperial USSR, the Cold War, etc. The methodology of the research consisted of qualitative methods. For analyzing the subject of the research, primary and secondary data have been collected and used. The primary data have been collected by the author in Ukraine, Poland, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Ireland, Canada, Italy, Lithuania, Denmark, and other countries during 2014-24, using case studies, fieldwork, semi-structured interviews, and very rarely, focus groups. The secondary data have been collected, using desk research from open international sources. To understand the topic of the research deeper, the paper also analyzed the traditionally aggressive behaviour of Russia as a successor country of the imperial USSR against other states and territories in different years and even centuries, symbolisms and ‘coincidences’ of Russia’s war on Ukraine, the present fight on the front line for the European past and future of Ukraine, and several stages of the heroic fight of Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, representatives of other minorities of Ukraine, and foreign volunteers fighting against Russia for the Ukrainian freedom during 2014-24.


I. Introduction
The paper is dedicated to the results of the analysis of the Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, members of other minorities of Ukraine, and foreign volunteer warriors' fight and resistance against the aggression of the neighboring country Russia, which accumulated occupation plans to invade Ukraine together with Crimea for many years.This aggressive country, which was recognized as the 'state sponsoring terrorism and using terrorist means' by the European Parliament (Goleanu, 2022), does not know how to build equal and well-neighbor relationships with other independent countries.This country-aggressor and terrorist Russia only knows how to occupy, murder, annexe, torture, violate, rob, damage, and destroy other countries and territories.
As a result, this country continues the aggressive Cold War, which never ended (Kotkin, 2022) because of Russia's wishes to continue that, and continues to ignore international law and rules of co-existence in the world.
The paper covered an analysis of the danger of spreading dead ideologies, such as communism, the 'Russian world,' and the imperial USSR.Also, the paper explored the present fight for the European past and future of Ukraine (Koshulko, 2023a(Koshulko, , 2023b(Koshulko, , 2023c)).
Besides, the paper has examined the behaviour of the traditionally aggressive Russia as a successor country of the USSR against other states and territories in 1968, 1992-2023, 2008, 2014-24, and other periods of recent history.
In addition, the paper explored the symbolism and 'coincidences' of Russia's war on Ukraine, which were very similar to symbols of WW2.
Also, the paper has covered two stages of Russia's war in Ukraine, from 2013-14 to 2024.The first stage was from the Revolution of Dignity of 2013-14, and the start of the invasion of Ukraine from Crimea and Donbas in 2014, to 2022, the year of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The second stage started on February 24th, 2022, and continues in 2024.This stage is extremely difficult because a lot of the best Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, representatives of other minorities, and foreign sons and daughters were murdered for the freedom and independence of Ukraine including Crimea, who defended the country, but this high price has a reason, it is a categorical victory for Ukraine in the genocidal and ecocidal war of Russia against Ukraine and Crimea.

II. Review of Literature
To start preparing the paper, a lot of literature sources in different languages have been explored.Concerning the former USSR's past were studied publications of very famous scientists and publicists, such as Daniel Wojcik (Wojcik, 2020), Pete Shmigel (Shmigel, 2022), Stephen Kotkin (Kotkin, 2022), Günter Bischof, Stefan Karner, Peter Ruggenthaler (Bischof, 2010), etc.

III. Research Methods
The methodology of the research consisted of qualitative methods.For analyzing the subject of the research, primary and secondary data have been collected and used.The primary data have been collected by the author in Ukraine, Poland, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Ireland, Canada, Italy, Lithuania, Denmark, and other countries during 2014-24, using case studies, fieldwork, semi-structured interviews, and very rarely, focus groups.The secondary data have been collected, using desk research from open international sources, such as the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory (Communist Crimes Portal, 2022); the Renew Europe Group (Goleanu, 2022); the Atlantic Council of the United States (Aslund, 2018) What is communism in a modern understanding?It is something that theoretically had to be finished after finishing a communist era and destroying the Iron Curtain between the imperial U.S.S.R. and the rest of the world.It is something that in the 21st century does not have the right to exist.However, communism continues to exist in other forms.For example, in the form of the 'Russian world' that Russia tries to spread in the world, first in the Former USSR countries and the satellite nations of the Cold War.
Why is it so dangerous?Communism and the 'Russian world' are viral diseases, worse than COVID-19 that have affected the human brains of a big part of nations of some postcommunist countries and the satellite nations too.
Nay higher powers more than 100 years ago warned humanity of the danger of spreading communism as a terrible evil on the planet.Thus, in the chapter of the book, written by Daniel Wojcik, communism has been identified as the 'serpent,' the 'beast', and the 'red dragon' (Wojcik, 2020) in the context of apparitions of the Virgin Mary in the start and middle of the 20th century: 'After World War II, apparitions of the Virgin Mary not only became increasingly apocalyptic, but repeatedly identified communism as 'the 'serpent,' the 'beast', and the 'red dragon' referred to in the Book of Revelation, with Mary appearing as the 'woman clothed with the sun,' an apocalyptic prophetess and warrior who promised protection and victory over a perceived communist assault in the last days' (Wojcik, 2020).
Therefore, years of spreading communism and the 'Russian world' remain an indelible wound on the 'bodies' of countries that have suffered from these occurrences for tens of years.
Currently, the 'Russian world' came to Ukraine with the genocidal and ecocidal war to murder Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, and other different minorities, who do not want to live with these ideologies anymore and would like to build a free democratic state Ukraine without the dead ideologies, such as communism, the 'Russian world,' and the imperial USSR.
Why is this Russia's war on Ukraine so cruel?Russia, a country, which did not know never what it is freedom, decided to kill the freedom of the independent state of Ukraine, which would like to choose its democratic way to the EU, not to Russia, communism, the 'Russian world,' and the imperial USSR.
Thus, why are these practically dead ideologies in so much danger?Because these dead ideologies kill.Today, these practically dead ideologies murder peaceful Ukrainian cities and villages.Tomorrow, if humanity and the civilized world do not stop the murders and the genocidal war in Ukraine in general, this ideology, like a gun, will murder children and adults in peaceful cities of other countries.Before the first, Russia's part-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2014, and, later, when the fullscale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the state, the sponsor of terrorism Russia as the successor country of the USSR, had already created a lot of tragedies and grief in many countries and territories.Among the countries were Georgia, Moldova, Syria, the Chechen Republic, etc.

The traditionally aggressive behaviour of
Before, during the time of the power of the USSR, there was Czechoslovakia (currently there are two independent countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia), Afghanistan, and other countries.In the Prague Spring of 1968, there were a lot of parallels with current Russia's genocidal war on Ukraine.In the book, entitled 'The Prague Spring and the Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968,' edited by Günter Bischof, Stefan Karner, and Peter Ruggenthaler, it is possible to find a lot of similar steps and reasons for the invasion of Prague in 1968 and Kyiv in 2022 by Kremlin (Bischof, 2010): August 20, 1968, tens of thousands of Soviet and East European ground and air forces moved into Czechoslovakia and occupied the country to end the 'Prague Spring' reforms and restore an orthodox Communist regime' (Bischof, 2010).
Are there some differences between Putin's ideology and strategy to restore communism and the 'Russian world' in Georgia in 2008-24-, in Moldova in 1992-2024-, in Ukraine during 2014-24-, and Soviet plans in Prague in 1968?No, no differences at all.Because the ideologies of genocides, murders, and invasions of Russia as a successor country of the USSR to territories of independent states are normal for this state, the sponsor of terrorism.The whole civilized world together must stop it today in Ukraine because currently, Ukraine has become a shield for this world in the fight against Russia.
In 2022, the German politician, Wolfgang Schäuble, said about the aggressive behaviour of Russia in some countries, which suffered from this country, a current state sponsoring terrorism.He spoke about the collective responsibility of Germany and Ukraine that they (Germans) did not want to see the behaviour of this aggressive country Russia before (Comdirect, 2022): 'I could have looked at what Russia was doing in Chechnya.Or listened to the then Polish President Lech Kaczynski.After Russia's attack on Georgia, he warned: 'Georgia comes first, then Ukraine, then Moldova, then the Baltic states, and then Poland.'He was right' (Comdirect, 2022).
With the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the aggressive behaviour of this country sponsoring terrorism did not finish, it was only more activated.Russia, this state 'sponsoring terrorism,' continues to threaten the Baltic countries, Poland, Moldova, Romania, the Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden, the UK, the USA, Canada, and other countries in the world.

The present fight on the front line for the European past and future of Ukraine
Every day, Ukraine becomes closer and closer to understanding its European past and future because the Soviet era together with centuries of the Russian enslavement of a big part of the country tried to erase from the memory of Ukrainians not only the Ukrainian language, Church, culture, and traditions, but also the European past of Ukraine.Now, during a brutal and bloody Russian war on Ukraine, Ukrainians finally started to refresh their memory of their European roots since the 9th, 10th, and 11th centuries, when a very strong and progressive Kyivan Rus with the capital Kyiv was built, and when a very famous royal family of the Kyivan King Jaroslav the Wise and his Swedish wife, Ingegerd Olofsdotter, the daughter of the Swedish King Olof, gave the start for many European monarchies in the 11th century, and even later because they had ten children, four daughters, and six sons, and all of their children became members of different European royal families, from Norway, England, and France, to Hungary and Poland.
The European-Kyivan Rus history of the 11th century confirmed that Ukraine always was a part of the European culture, and never Russian.And what is very interesting is that Europe has together with Ukraine begun to remember the European basis and roots of Ukraine.As an example, a recent publication by the Norwegian journalist Bård Amundsen about their Norwegian Queen, the daughter of Jaroslav the Wise and Ingegerd Olofsdotter, Elisiv, a princess of Kyivan Rus (Amundsen, 2022).The title of his article was 'The Princess from Kyiv was Norway's last Viking Queen' (Amundsen, 2022), and it is only one of the examples.Another example is the publications of Swedish scientists, particularly Prof. Lars Lönnroth, about the Swedish princess and later the Queen of Kyivan Rus, Ingegerd Olofsdotter (Lönnroth, 2022).The title of his publication was in English 'That is how Swedish Ingegerd became Ukraine's symbol of freedom' (Lönnroth, 2022).And these publications are only the first birds in long lists of future investigations of international scientists and journalists about the European past, and, of course, the future of Ukraine.
Of course, during the last centuries, the Russian imperial, later Soviet, and finally Russian Putin's regimes tried to erase from the memory of the Ukrainian nation their desire to be free from Russia and the former USSR forever.Even now, in the 21st century, Russia does not want to allow the independent state of Ukraine to choose an independent way of development, the European future.
Because of that, Russia started this genocidal war in Ukraine, with the aim not only to force Ukrainians to forget about their past and future European choices but to destroy Ukrainians together with Crimean Tatars and other minorities of Ukraine as a common Ukrainian nation.Russia together with the USSR did something very similar with Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, and others in the 20th century, the artificial hunger for Ukrainians in 1932-33 (Werth, 2008), and the forced deportation of Crimean Tatars to Central Asia from Crimea in 1944.
In 2016, the Ukrainian singer of Crimean Tatar origin Jamala created a song about the horrors of the deportation of Crimean Tatars in general and her family in particular in 1944, entitled '1944,' and she became the winner of the International Contest Eurovision (Eurovision Song Contest, 2016).However, Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, and representatives of other multicultural minorities of Ukraine will not ask Russia for permission, they will fight and win for their European future, and the future of their children on their free land, in the EU, and in NATO.
So, now Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, and other nations together fight on the front line with the Russian occupiers and invaders not only for the European future of the country but also for the European past of Ukraine, the national memory, the Ukrainian, Tatar, Roma's, the European basis of the state, and the right to be a European civilized country forever.

The symbolism and 'coincidences' of Russia's war on Ukraine
Without a doubt, the state sponsoring terrorism and the successor country of the imperial USSR, Russia decided to start a full-scale war on Ukraine in 2022, using nazi symbols.The war in 2022 started at 4 a.m. on the 24th of February, at the same time, as the Nazis started the war in the USSR at 4 a.m. in 1941, on the 22nd of June.This was the first 'coincidence.' The Russian occupiers longed for the invasion of the capital of Ukraine first, so, they started bombing all the airports around the capital of Ukraine, and other very important and critical subjects of the Ukrainian infrastructure, as well as, peaceful and sleeping at 4 a.m.areas of the Ukrainian capital.This was the second 'coincidence' exactly like in an old Soviet song about WW2 in Russian (Twenty-second of June 2014): '…on the 22nd of June, exactly at 4 a.m., they (the Nazis German occupiers) started bombing Kyiv, and we understood that the war started…' (Twenty-second of June 2014).
The third 'coincidence,' was the symbols 'V' and 'Z' on the tanks and other military cars of the Russian occupiers, which were very similar to the Nazi's German symbol, which was used during WW2, and is prohibited in contemporary Germany.
The fourth 'coincidence,' was the filtration camps, organized by the Russian invaders for Ukrainians in the occupied territories, very similar to the concentration camps of Nazi German, which they used for killing Jewish, Roma, and people of other nationalities during WW2.
Why there were too many 'coincidences' about the symbolism of the Russian invaders of Ukraine in 2022 and the German Nazis in 1941?The answer is very simple, and the first scientist, who answered the question, was the American historian Timothy David Snyder.In his column in the newspaper 'The New York Times,' he wrote: 'We should say it.Russia is Fascist' (Snyder, 2022).
However, the Russian invaders do not want to see the final 'coincidence.'Russia will lose.Russia will lose with eternal shame.
To confirm this last opinion is possible to cite the words of Pete Shmigel, an Australian writer with a background in Ukrainian issues (Shmigel, 2022): For years, Ukrainians have joked that their country is so wonderful because God knew they were going to have to live with the worst neighbor on the planet.The horrors of the current war underline the deeply damaging impact of Russia's destructive relationship with Ukraine.At the same time, centuries of traumatic experience have shaped today's Ukraine in ways that may contribute to Russia's defeat and allow Ukrainians to build a better future (Shmigel, 2022).Thus, Russia, this 'sponsor of terrorism' (Goleanu, 2022), will lose in the 21st century, as Nazi Germany lost in the 20th century, and this war on Ukraine will be Russia's eternal shame, forever.
Furthermore, Timothy Snyder said in his recent interview concerning Russia's war on Ukraine: 'Russia wins by losing' (Rankin, 2022).

The fight and resistance of Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, and other minorities of
Ukraine, which started from the Revolution of Dignity of 2013-14, and continue to fight and resist during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022-24 During the Revolution of Dignity in 2013-14, the first protestors, who stood up against the regime of Ukraine's traitors were killed in the centre of Kyiv, in February 2014, ten years ago.The outright traitors of Ukraine directed the murders of these unarmed victims, who later were titled the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred (UCC, 2022).Now, these outright traitors are alive and still free because they are in Russia, which protected them and covered their misdeeds against the Ukrainian, Crimean Tatar, Armenian, and Belarusian multicultural common nation of Ukraine, but, one day, after the categorical victory of Ukraine, all the traitors will be judged for their crimes against their nation.
Men and women started fighting and struggling with the Kremlin's and pro-Russian regime in Ukraine in 2013 during the Revolution of Dignity, then in 2014 in Crimea and Donbas, and it was a very difficult struggle for freedom (Koshulko and Dluhopolskyi, 2022).
From the first days of the occupation and annexation of Crimea, the Crimean Tatar TV ATR showed the clear position of the Crimean Tatar nation in its attitude toward Ukraine.This TV channel made a musician clip with a clear signal to Ukrainians: 'Bir Devlet -Bir Millet' that means 'One country -One nation' (Okean Elzy, 2014).
An American scientist, Anders Aslund, described the first steps of the Russian occupiers and invaders of Crimea in 2014 in his report, entitled 'Kremlin Aggression in Ukraine: The Price Tag' (Aslund, 2018): The Russian occupation of Crimea started on February 27, 2014, as 'little green men' -Russian special forces without insignia -seized the regional parliament in Simferopol.It was unprovoked military aggression and came as a complete surprise.The unprepared Ukrainian armed forces made no resistance, and the occupation was nearly bloodless.On March 18, the Russian Federation annexed the whole of Crimea (Aslund, 2018).
If the first days of the occupation of Crimea were bloodless, later a lot of Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar activists disappeared and were brutally tortured and murdered by the Russian occupiers.
How many Ukrainian, Crimean Tatar, and other patriots of Ukraine disappeared during the first months and later years of resistance and fighting in Crimea and Donbas, excluding the Ukrainian military?Very difficult to count them right now, but one day Ukraine together with Crimea will know all the names of the patriots, who have been murdered for their freedom and independence from Russia, including civilian and military fighters, and will remember their names forever.

Russia's Aggressive Genocidal and Ecocidal War on Ukraine and its Outcomes
This aggressive genocidal and ecocidal war of Russia on Ukraine was directed not only towards the nation of Ukraine in the mainland part of the state and the peninsula of Crimea but also against the environmental situation of the world in general, to increase world's mortality due to different and new types of sickness, dirty water, landmines, famine, viruses.
To follow the idea, on the occupied territory of Ukraine, the Russian occupiers blew up the dam on the Kakhovka Reservoir to stop the Ukrainian Army as they thought.The Reservoir was built after WW2 because of an order from the Soviet dictator Stalin.
Due to the artificial technogenic catastrophe from the Russian invaders in the 21st century, several weeks after the catastrophe, people in different countries of the world, for example, in Bulgaria and the occupied part of Georgia, in the water of the Black Sea saw the animal corpses, the remains of birds and fish, parts of trees and pieces of furniture, etc.
Because of this awful ecological catastrophe, a Swedish delegation, which included a famous young eco-activist Greta Thunberg came to Kyiv to meet the Ukrainian President.Thanks to the visit to Ukraine, the delegation from Sweden understood the huge scale of the tragedy for many years in the future (PA News Agency, 2023) because the worst impact and damage to the planet from this catastrophe, made by the Russian invaders in Ukraine, can be seen after tens and even hundreds of years.
In the 50s of the 20th century, Stalin did the same with tens of villages and thousands of Ukrainians there, when the Soviet power built a reservoir on the bones and put water over the Ukrainian villages.Why did he do it in the 50s?Just to hide the truth about the heroic ancestors of Ukrainians, the legendary Ukrainian Cossacks, who had communities there many centuries ago.The Russian Royals for centuries were very much afraid of their will, strength, military art, and power, and the Russian Queen had destroyed all the Cossack fortresses and communities in Ukraine.
In 2023, the Russian occupiers committed an ecologic catastrophe on a global scale and repeated the crime of Stalin in the 1950s of the 20th century (Koshulko, 2023c).The same the occupiers did with people, with Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, and other minorities, among them were children and adult people in Bucha, Irpin, Izyum, Chernihiv, etc.

The fight and resistance of Ukraine and Crimea during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022-24
This fight was and still is extremely difficult for the freedom and independence of Ukraine together with Crimea, for freedom from Russia's ideologies and idols in Ukraine and Crimea, from the 'Russian world.'Because of that, currently, Ukraine fights not only on the front line with weapons in hand, but also on the informational, scientific, journalistic, political, European, international, military, and other spaces.
Russia's genocidal and ecological war on Ukraine showed that the Russian occupiers came to Ukraine to clean territories from Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, and other minorities.Because of that, it is not correct and possible to say that this war was started by Russia without any sense.For the Russian invaders, this war was with big sense, to murder and enslave Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, and other minorities of Ukraine, to destroy and damage the territory of freedom, as well as, to sow fear, panic, chaos, and famine in the world.This war had very clear and awful functions, and Ukrainians stopped it on their land at a very high price, the blood, and lives of tens of thousands of male and female fighters and defenders of the Ukrainian state.Ukraine became the shield of the civilized world.Thanks to that, the whole civilized world together with Ukraine continues to resist the country Russia with the face of a bloodthirsty beast and with the title a state 'sponsor of terrorism' (Goleanu, 2022), which dreamt of seeing a free world like intimidated slaves in an iron cage.
If one year ago, almost anybody in the world did not believe that Ukraine would protect the Ukrainian territories, now everyone in the world knows that Ukraine is a country of freedom, courage, faith, unbreakable, and Ukrainians together with Crimean Tatars and other minorities and volunteer international legions for freedom, will protect the territory of freedom until the last drop of the blood.Russia will lose.Ukraine will win.Ukraine is already the winner because the state and the Ukrainians of different nationalities together fight on the side of light.Even the Bible has taught humanity in the Gospel of Matthew: 'For all who take the sword will perish by the sword' (Matthew 26, 26:52) (Bible Gateway, 2022), and it is the way of the country Russia, a state sponsoring terrorism and using terrorist means' (Goleanu, 2022).

V. Conclusion
The paper has examined how the communist remnants, such as communism, the 'Russian world,' the imperial USSR, and the 'Iron Curtain,' led to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014, and its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.Also, a very important explanation and analysis of the situation, why and how Ukraine became the shield for the civilized world during Russia's genocidal and ecocidal war on Ukraine, has been given.
In general, the paper is very important for understanding a lot of processes of the Soviet past that contemporary Russia would like to reborn.Among the processes and ideologies were the 'Russian world,' the imperial USSR, the 'Iron Curtain,' the Cold War, communism, etc.
The 'state sponsoring terrorism and using terrorist means' Russia understood many years ago that Ukrainians, the Baltic countries, and Moldovans will never back to the USSR, the ideologically and physically dead country, which Putin as a 'collector of the former Soviet lands' would like to rebuild again in the 21st century because all the Soviet and Russian processes and ideologies are dead and destructive.In addition, the paper studied the outcomes of Russia's aggressive genocidal and ecocidal war on Ukraine not only for Ukraine but for the world in general.Finally, the paper gave a very detailed rational explanation for why Russia will lose this war.

Communism, the 'Russian world,' the imperial USSR: the danger from these practically dead ideologies
; PA News Agency (PA News Agency, 2023); Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC, 2022); etc.