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Vladimir Putin: a Dictator
It is horrific. The atrocities committed at Bucha qualify as a war crime, but although the world grieves, the world will not defend Ukraine. Ironically, our best defence, NATO and the European Union, have turned into weapons. What about the United Nations?
Vladimir Putin knows that nations will stand still for fear that he, Vladimir Putin, one man, will trigger a Third World War. Putin has allies in what President Biden has described as a fight between autocracy and democracy. But Putin leads the pack.
Now that Vladimir Putin has ceased to be a world leader to change into a “dictator,” he can no longer go anywhere except an international court of justice where he will be tried as a criminal. But who will take him there? Putin is surrounded by his military, and he is, in fact, part of the military.
Putin has betrayed his people. Russians are fleeing, and he has nearly destroyed Ukraine. He is turning Ukraine into a petite Russie, and former Soviet nations bordering the Adriatic Sea and the Baltic Sea could be attacked. Finland is afraid. It shares a border with Russia.
Mazepa and the Battle of Poltava
Ukrainians, however, are a nation and Ukraine is a country. They have heroes, perhaps the main one being the great Yvan Mazepa (Wikipedia).
Mazepa lost the Battle of Poltava to Russian emperor Peter the Great. It was the final battle. Mazepa also inspired other composers and writers, and a 1993 film features Mazepa.
- Lord Byron – Mazeppa, poem (1818)
- Alexander Pushkin – Poltava, poem (1828–1829)
- Victor Hugo – Mazeppa, poem (1829)
- Juliusz Słowacki – Mazeppa, drama (1840)
- Franz Liszt – Mazeppa, symphonic poem (1851); Transcendental Étude No. 4.
- Marie Grandval – Mazeppa, opera (1892)
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Mazeppa, opera (1881–1883)
- Michael William Balfe – The Page, cantata (1861)
- Taras Shevchenko
- Kondraty Ryleyev
- A Ukrainian-language film by Yuri Ilyenko, loosely based on historical facts and called Молитва за гетьмана Мазепу (Molytva za hetmana Mazepu), was released in 2002.
- The Italian composer Carlo Pedrotti wrote a tragic opera titled Mazeppa in 1861, on a libretto by Achille de Lauzières.
(See Mazepa, Wikipedia)
RELATED ARTICLES
- The Art and Music of Russia (page)
Love to everyone 💕
Tchaikovsky’s opera is on YouTube. It cannot be inserted in a post.
© Micheline Walker
5 April 2022
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Micheline's Blog 
Once again. excellent post, Micheline. Cossack Hetman Ivan Mazepa is deeply hated by Russia since he fought for Ukraine independence against the Tsars, and have always opposed the building of any statue or memorial in his honor. His headquarters in Chernihiv, one of the most severely bombed cities in Putin’s mad war, is a true monument of architecture – Mazepa house in Dytynets Park, built by cossack Yakov Lyzohub and sold to Mazepa. Look for it in Wikipedia or else, ot is beautiful Ukrainian heritage.
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I thank you for your comment. Mazepa is a hero who has inspired great composers, poets and writers.
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My reply left on its own. … statues stand honouring him. There has long been the Ukrainian nation. We should now let it be a country. Crimes have been committed, Compassion must at times override various ententes. It’s an entente of itself. Thank you, my dear. 💕
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But Mazepa lost, dear Micheline, and Russia grabbed that part of Ukraine. My heart is breaking!
I hope you are well, dear friend,
D
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Yes, I know that Mazepa lost, and so did Karl XII of Sweden. Ukraine was not independent after the battle Poltava. I have been thinking of you. The massacres at Odessa were ruthless. I will review my post so it is clear that Putin is a dictator, and tens of thousands of Russians are leaving their country. I am not condemning the Russians who are fleeing their country. Democracy is being tested, and we are reliving the Battle of Poltava. A little detail. My dear friend in Magog is of Ukrainian ancestry. My health will not be the same, but I can return to a modest degree of blogging.
Much love,
M
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