Boom boom! Bang bang!

This sudden deafening roar that carving the air was the associative memory of people who experienced in the morning of 25^th June 1950, the start of Korean war. Those thunderous noises coming from Northern side were so powerful that sunk in the people’s heart instantly and made anyone’s blood run cold.

The deadly invasion of Ukraine by Russia on 24^th January 2022 was another wake-up call that we live in a dangerous world; It is really hard to buy peace which can be so precarious. Although all-out war between these two countries broke out last year, the actual battle started in 2014 regionally. The Eastern parts of Ukraine where with Russian majority of Ukraine had wanted to break off by force in the support of mainland Russia.

Most of the wars usually develop between rival countries/ alliances when one side appears to be weakened. That is why, each nation spends massive military budget to arm themselves for defence or offence. However, the Russo-Ukraine war is very much like a civil war that is highly, politically motivated like Korean war. When the USSR collapsed in 1991, they were separated but remained as brotherly nations. Ethnically, they are both Slavs and share similar linguistic, historic and cultural background. The meanings of Ukraine and the capital Kyiv are ‘the borderland’ and ‘the mother of Russian cities’ respectively which proves how close these two countries are: The paternal grandfather of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, one of the greatest composers in world history was Ukrainian: Fyodor Dostoevsky, the Russian pride and world renowned novelist had paternal grandfather who was also Ukrainian but a Russian Orthodox priest.

Nevertheless, any physical wars that bring terror and destruction are bad but the civil wars are more painful. The Cain killing Abel - the acrimonious trouble built between them that eventually led to the killing might’ve been an example of early days of civil war.

The fundamental lesson throughout any wars in the world that have been recurring constantly endorse that the idiom, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. It is the fact that the countries which are well prepared in this disciplinary measure befit the safe passage effectively. 

The cardinal point is that the Russia’s unprovocative attack on Ukraine cannot be forgiven. However, they claimed absurdly that the war was by way of the justification as they had been threatened by Ukraine which was so corrupt and disorderly. Indeed, Ukraine had had strong ties with the United States and the EU and were planning to join EU and NATO later inevitably. Russians couldn’t accept the notion of Ukraine’s political and military expansion towards the West, especially having their little brother as a member of the NATO at their doorstep. Nonetheless, in 2021, the US constantly warned Ukraine for months of the Russia’s imminent invasion. Alas! Ukraine didn’t heed the US warning that Russia wouldn’t dare to attack them and are now indeed paying the heavy price.

Many pacifists insist that war should be avoided by any means and a bad peace is better than a war. I am so sure that no-one likes war except the extreme warmongers and mentally impaired individuals. As forementioned, it appears to be inevitable when one of the rival countries/ alliances has weakened in their system and then the other tries to take over. Therefore, nations need to choose their leader who is strong and reliable guiding them in the right direction. That is the key of vouching their fate.

I was born in the middle of the war but can only remember not the fighting but the scar of the war. In our home area, there was a long industrial railway which dozens of carriages were placed on standstill. Each carriage was packed with the metal scrap that was produced by the war and remained there until the mid-60s. I didn’t fully grasp of the painful war at that time, but the destructive scene I had to see daily always stirred my young emotion up. And the aftermath of the war that blighted living spirit by hunger, poor sanitation and dreadful life necessity which never I wish to experience again.

“There is no winner, but all are losers”, the famous saying by Neville Chamberlain who was the 60^th UK prime minister affirms all even while we all are witnessing the Russo-Ukraine war right now as well as all the wars in the past. In contrast, his another declaration that “Peace for our time” after returning from Anglo-German summit in Munich in 1938 has been ridiculed as Hitler raged war a year after.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure meaning”. What a grave strategy it is concerning all wars!