Russian officials are threatening World War III should Ukraine spread its counter-offensive to liberate Crimea.

Most recently, Margarita Simonyan, head of Russia’s RT propaganda outlet, said on a state-owned Russian television channel that she can’t see Russia ceding Crimea without WW III.

“Either we win, or sooner or later there will be World War III. I don’t see any other way,” she said.

Such fear mongering is aimed at the Western audience, particularly the useful idiots in the media.

Unfortunately, those efforts are working, judging by a recent New York Times publication.

A headline in The New York Times’ Tuesday edition reads “Ukrainian Attacks Deep Inside Russia Escalate the War,” effectively accusing Ukraine of escalating the war by striking the airbases that Russia uses to bomb Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure.

That Ukrainian action, however, is simply self-defense.

The only escalating party here is Russia, which attacks civilian targets across Ukraine en masse, in an effort to force Ukraine to give up its counter offensive in the Russia-occupied territories.

It is indisputable that Crimea belongs to Ukraine.

Crimea was transferred from the Russian Soviet Republic to Ukrainian Soviet Republic under Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in 1954 for logistical reasons, to streamline the infrastructural management of the region. When the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991, Crimea stayed with Ukraine.

In 2014, the Black Sea peninsula was annexed by Russia as a knee-jerk reaction to a pro-Western uprising in Ukraine against a pro-Russian government.

To be sure, Crimea is a symbol of Russia’s former imperial glory to millions of Russians.

The Black Sea peninsula was the site of the Crimean War of 1853-1856 that the Russian Empire, of which Ukraine was a part, fought against an alliance of Britain, France, Turkey, and Sardinia. Later, during WW II, the Soviet Union, which included Ukraine, fought the Battle of Crimea against Nazi Germany.

The annexation of Crimea was Mr. Putin’s most symbolic accomplishment in trying to reverse what he refers to as the greatest calamity of the 20th century – the disintegration of the Soviet Union. The peninsula was a favorite vacation spot for millions of the Soviets.

But that’s not a good reason for appeasing the Russian aggressor.

Some pundits in the West have tried to rationalize such appeasement by suggesting that unless Mr. Putin is allowed to save face by keeping Crimea, his power base may be undermined to allow for a regime change that would install a leader who is more radical.

That’s hogwash.

Mr. Putin has launched a genocidal war of choice in Europe, which should qualify him as radical enough to justify a regime change.

Fears that Mr. Putin’s successor — say a head of one of Russia’s security agencies or an allied top executive — may be even more radical, are moot.

If Mr. Putin is good at something, it’s a balancing act in which he makes sure that the country’s multiple security agencies have overlapping functions and that its bosses report directly to him.

Constantly involved in turf wars, those agencies spy on each other, preventing any of them from pulling off a plot against him. The recent series of mysterious deaths among Russian generals and top executives attests to that.

Rich in natural resources and gold and currency reserves, Russia can survive the Western sanctions for years, precluding a massive popular uprising that would unseat Mr. Putin.

Only a popular uprising can help Russia and the rest of the world rid themselves of Mr. Putin and his regime.

In the near future, such an uprising can only be brought about by a public discontent resulting from massive casualties and economic burden of a complete military defeat in Ukraine.

That is why the United States and our allies should stop pulling their punches.

We ought to provide Ukraine with all the weapons it needs to liberate its entire territory, including Crimea. That includes fighter jets, air defense systems, and long-range missiles.

Mike Sigov, a former Russian journalist in Moscow, is a U.S. citizen and a staff writer at The Blade. 

First Published December 11, 2022, 5:00 a.m.