A great piece on the madness of the Russian war - and many of the responses to it.
A speech by Boris Nemtsov in 2014, after the Russian invasion of Crimea. He saw what was coming. It's a pity for Russians that he was assassinated a year later.
It isn’t that it is “Europe’s turn” in some orderly queue of wars. The problem is that the security architecture that prevented large-scale war in Europe for decades is being eroded. When the United States signals that its commitment to Ukraine is weakening, the burden inevitably shifts toward European states - whether they want it or not. That is the strategic reality.
No one in the EU is talking about marching armies to Moscow. Direct war between NATO and Russia would carry obvious escalation risks, including nuclear ones, which is precisely why Western support for Ukraine has largely taken the form of weapons, training, and financial backing rather than troops. But supporting Ukraine is also about preventing the war from expanding. If Russia succeeds in redrawing borders by force, the conflict doesn’t necessarily end at Ukraine’s frontier.
There is also another dimension your question touches on: the war is not only military. Russia has long waged an information campaign designed to weaken Western unity and erode support for Ukraine. Disinformation and narrative warfare have been a central part of the strategy.
So the real issue isn’t that Europe is being asked to “go to war.” It’s that Europe is being forced to confront the consequences of a war already underway- militarily, politically, and informationally - on its own continent.
That’s the uncomfortable reality we are talking about.
A great piece on the madness of the Russian war - and many of the responses to it.
A speech by Boris Nemtsov in 2014, after the Russian invasion of Crimea. He saw what was coming. It's a pity for Russians that he was assassinated a year later.
https://siliconcurtain.substack.com/p/slain-prophet
On the hunting of Ukrainian civilians via drones:
https://brendankelley.substack.com/p/kherson-weekly-16-22-february-2026
Thank you for your comments and links.
I have the book about Boris Nemtsov to read. It is called the successor by Mikhail Fishman
Why is it europes turn? The EU would never directly go to war against Russia. Its too risky
Thank you for your comment.
It isn’t that it is “Europe’s turn” in some orderly queue of wars. The problem is that the security architecture that prevented large-scale war in Europe for decades is being eroded. When the United States signals that its commitment to Ukraine is weakening, the burden inevitably shifts toward European states - whether they want it or not. That is the strategic reality.
No one in the EU is talking about marching armies to Moscow. Direct war between NATO and Russia would carry obvious escalation risks, including nuclear ones, which is precisely why Western support for Ukraine has largely taken the form of weapons, training, and financial backing rather than troops. But supporting Ukraine is also about preventing the war from expanding. If Russia succeeds in redrawing borders by force, the conflict doesn’t necessarily end at Ukraine’s frontier.
There is also another dimension your question touches on: the war is not only military. Russia has long waged an information campaign designed to weaken Western unity and erode support for Ukraine. Disinformation and narrative warfare have been a central part of the strategy.
So the real issue isn’t that Europe is being asked to “go to war.” It’s that Europe is being forced to confront the consequences of a war already underway- militarily, politically, and informationally - on its own continent.
That’s the uncomfortable reality we are talking about.