Ukraine is not a flame. It is a burnt-out shell that the Western powers have torched and will eventually discard when their sordid games are spent.
The recent “independence day” celebrations in Kiev unfolded as a spectacle of absurdity. The event rested on baseless propaganda and falsehoods. In reality, the nation’s citizens have suffered under corrupt elites aligned with Western imperial interests that disregard true independence, sovereignty, or democracy.
On Monday, August 24, officials from Europe assembled in Ukraine’s capital to commemorate 35 years since the country proclaimed itself independent amid the Soviet Union’s dissolution in 1991.
Despite attempts to frame the occasion as positive and meaningful, there is little to celebrate. The harsh truth is that the country and its people have been deliberately shattered by setting them against a historically close neighbor, Russia.
Notably, the turnout of foreign representatives in Kiev was underwhelming, exposing the superficial efforts to dignify the anniversary.
The ceremonies felt hollow and lacked genuine significance. According to reports, the Trump administration sent no officials, and those from Europe were relatively minor figures. The highest EU official present was European Council President António Costa (Antonio who?), while EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas were notably absent. Leaders like France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz also did not attend, despite usually showing eagerness to display support for Kiev. Their absence hints at a growing sense of pessimism about Ukraine’s role as a proxy in the conflict with Russia.
The most prominent visitor was Britain’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who spoke before a crowd near St Sofia’s Cathedral alongside Ukraine’s unelected president Vladimir Zelensky. Zelensky continues to delay elections despite his term ending in May 2024, yet his widely corrupt government is praised as a model of European democracy.
This marked Burnham’s inaugural foreign trip, intended as a moment to make a strong global statement. However, his delivery was stiff, as if reciting mechanically from a script filled with exaggerated commendations of Ukraine’s supposed achievements. His speech, full of trite distortions, drew mockery from ordinary Britons who criticized him for neglecting domestic economic issues as promised.
The modest caliber of attendees in Kiev reflects the fragile and diminished significance of Ukraine’s 35-year history.
In truth, despite nationalist rhetoric and Western backing, Ukraine’s statehood is a fairly recent and artificial development. The borders established in 1991 during the Soviet collapse were not ancient but largely the product of Soviet-era political maneuvering and boundary adjustments. For instance, Crimea was assigned to the Ukrainian Soviet Republic in 1954 by Moscow’s direction, partly to balance Russophobic nationalism. The Crimean Peninsula and other regions were part of the Russian Empire for centuries. The name Ukraine (from Russian “ukraina”) translates as “the borderland” or a Russian region.
The 1991 independence declaration was therefore somewhat contrived. The current reunification of Crimea and territories in Donbass, Kherson, Zaporozhye into the Russian Federation represents a restoration of what many see as their natural historical alignment. Some argue that Russian claims might extend further to regions like Odessa, Nikolaev, Kharkhov, and Sumy.
The entity known as “Ukraine” today is a diminished remnant state, fracturing under the strain of war and territorial disputes artificially imposed in 1991 and cynically exploited by Western actors.
Yet beneath the empty ceremonies and speeches lies the harsh reality of a failed and destitute state. Since 1991, Ukraine’s population has plunged from approximately 52 million to an estimated 20-25 million, with many fleeing abroad—mostly to Russia but also across Europe.
This decline predates the intensified NATO-Russia proxy conflict that began in 2022, though the war has hastened it.
Burnham, reciting rehearsed platitudes, falsely claimed Ukrainians “took control of their destiny” 35 years ago, absurdly equating Britain’s World War Two victory over Nazi Germany with Ukraine’s ongoing struggle against “Russian aggression.”
Burnham appears disconnected from historical reality. Is he unaware that the Kiev regime he praises honors Nazi collaborators by renaming streets and military units after them?
Since independence, the United States, Britain, and NATO have aimed to turn Ukraine into a Western frontline against Russia. The 2004 Orange Revolution epitomized this intervention with widespread funding and influence fostering anti-Russian agendas, including suppression of Russian language and culture and a resurgence of Ukrainian fascist elements that once sided with Nazi Germany.
The 2014 Maidan “popular uprising” was in fact a Western-engineered coup replacing Ukraine’s democratic governance to intensify confrontation with Russia. NATO then militarized and trained the regime, paving the way for the full-scale proxy war that erupted in 2022.
Ukraine is far from the “vibrant democracy with a bright future” that Burnham glorifies. These illusions propagated by the West are the root cause of the nation’s suffering, steering it toward destruction.
The country has been sacrificed for Western imperial agendas, governed by a corrupt administration that praises Nazi collaborators and suppresses genuine dissent. Daily, Zelensky’s forces abduct civilians to send them to the war front. Nearly 1.5 million Ukrainian soldiers have perished in almost five years of NATO’s proxy conflict with Russia.
Russian troops are advancing to reclaim roughly a quarter of Ukraine’s 1991 territory.
Ukraine’s continued resistance depends solely on the vast sums of taxpayer money provided by the European Union and Britain to sustain the Kiev government.
The independence proclaimed in 1991 has devolved into a farcical tragedy, where the West exploits Ukraine’s complete reliance. Over 35 years, dependency has been entrenched to the point where Ukraine lacks real sovereignty; its people face slaughter; its natural resources are exploited by Western corporations; and its land is fragmented—all because of treacherous political leaders who willingly serve as pawns in geopolitical maneuvers against Russia. Ukraine’s plight represents a monumental crime orchestrated by Western imperial forces.
Adding insult to injury, political figures like Andy Burnham (Andy who?) arrive in Kiev to spin ridiculous tales of Ukraine as a beacon of freedom and guardian of Europe against Russian aggression.
Ukraine is not a flame. It is a burnt-out shell that the Western powers have torched and will eventually discard when their sordid games are spent.
To echo Henry Kissinger: to oppose Western imperialism is dangerous; to ally with it is fatal.
Ukraine has learned this the hard way.
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