Comments by "Tim Trewyn" (@timtrewyn453) on ""I Value Life Now": Moscow Lawyer-Turned-Soldier After 1.5 Years in Ukraine" video.

  1.  @danko397  All I can say is my Ukrainian guests here in America told me they do not want to live under Russian mind control. The US was not telling Ukraine to invade Russian territory.
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  2.  @danko397  UN High Commissioner for Refugees says that number is 1.21 million to Russia as of 2023. Not all of them went willingly.
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  3. I noted he said "Americans showed up in Ukraine, something had to be done." It implies a sense of a right to exclusive influence over a neighboring jurisdiction. Exxon, Chevron, and Shell had done their usual routine of exploring oil and gas resources in Ukraine. In that sense, the West was on its way to setting up competition with Russia for the European oil and gas market. Well the Russians are now mostly out of that market. I'm not sure what else Andrey might have meant.
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  4. Russian "innocence" is a recurring theme. I don't buy it. Start with Russia's involvement with Venezuela. Look at Venezuela's immense oil resources. Look at its history of oil production. As Russian influence in Venezuela increased, Venezuelan oil production leveled off at about 1/3 of prior production. That's enough to sustain the regime there without being a serious threat to oil prices and Russian revenue. Thousands of Venezuelans have left the country, many for the United States. Looks to me like Russia did not want Venezuela putting downward pressure on oil prices. Now note that Exxon, Chevron, and Shell, with superior oil and gas exploration and extraction technologies (see Guyana) had explored and determined Ukraine (even in old fields) had potential to produce more oil and gas for the European market. That is what set the stage for this war. Russia was going to face more competition in the oil and gas market and thus loss of revenue. Russia had a peaceful path and a war path ahead of it. Russia could have used its wealth to focus on improving its own petroleum engineering capabilities so it could outperform the West. However, that is not an easy thing to do, because the Western system creates conditions for the continuous improvement of engineering capabilities, while the Russian way of life puts a bit of a damper on freedom and individuality. Russia does do engineering at a high level in many areas, but it is usually spying on the West for the next steps, rather than organically making new discoveries. I'm not saying it never happens, but it is a tendency. Russia chose the war path, not the West. Was there competition for influence in Ukraine from the West? Most definitely. The challenge is to meet that competition with excellence in engineering, not war. I think less of Russia because of its use of pretext and military force. I see the Russian people as people, albeit with a distinctive character developed by their particular history. Oil is a curse, like it happens in John Steinbeck's "The Pearl".
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