Escalation is real, describes Russia's whole war against Ukraine, and we are all witnessing it clearly

Dam explosions, energy strikes, attacks on civilian areas, executions of prisoners — these are just some examples. Has Russia run out of ideas? Not likely. Their best minds are working around the clock to come up with new ways to kill and maim Ukrainians.

And this escalation usually plays out the same way:

Western politicians get worried and fearful of further escalation. Ukrainians laugh at them, saying, “Don’t worry, nothing will happen, you’re overreacting.” Then Putin does something horrific. Ukrainians turn to the West and shout, “Look at what he’s doing! Do something!” And the cycle continues.

The latest example is the situation the Kursk region. The reaction: shock, disbelief, and a lot of talk about North Korea. The West is silent, as usual, and Ukrainians are left to wonder: “Do we really have to fight the Koreans now?”

And here’s the thing: We’ll never win this race of escalation. We can’t match them blow for blow, because we simply don’t play by their rules. We can't target civilian houses, we can't strip prisoners and shoot them without trial, we can't decapitate people and flaunt it. We can't do things that might give us a feeling of vengeance without fundamentally changing the course of the war.

And now, there's a new hope: the possibility of long-range strikes on Russian territory, along with Putin's threats of nuclear retaliation. It’s just another trap, because Russia is using our response to justify its next move.

This is an arms race, but it’s not the Cold War style, where you just build up weapons without using them. Now, it's about launching everything at once, without even taking the time to build up. It’s a vicious cycle. Since 2022, we haven’t seen a moment where the violence or destruction has slowed. If anything, it’s only grown. And no number of strikes will change that. During World War II, bombers flattened German cities, killing tens of thousands of civilians with each raid. Did it stop Hitler?

Yes, Russia is escalating in a way that’s self-destructive. They’ve ruined their economy, and the methods they use to keep their soldiers fighting are horrifically brutal. The stories coming from Russia about "zeroing in" are so barbaric they make the medieval period look civilized. They don’t even care about their own people. And the bitter truth is that in order to resist them, we’re slowly destroying ourselves - our fragile democracy, our already weakened economy, and our demographic challenges. We are becoming more savage in order to fight the savages.

It all reminds me of the Irish parable of the two cats from Kilkenny who fought until only their tails were left. The only difference is, we weren’t the ones attacking. We were a peaceful domestic cat, and they were the rabid street cat.

As for our anger toward Western politicians — maybe it's not for the hurtful cartoons or the lack of military support. Because, as we've seen over the past three years, Russia will always find a way to escalate. And they’re ready to fight with anything, even shovels, just to kill. The problem has been the lack of political, diplomatic, and economic pressure from the West. In the beginning, the West washed its hands of the conflict: “Here’s some weapons, fight it out, let’s see what happens.” But I’m sure that if Russia had attacked the West, the war would have ended much quicker, and not with military action. The West would have reduced Russia to political, technological, and economic ruins within months. But it’s not their lives at stake - it’s ours.

Do we have a right to accuse them? Probably not. What we’re left with is a bitter realization: the world is still a cruel place, and the laws of the jungle still rule. Domestic cats should stay far away from the jungle, or risk being lost in it.

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About the author: Volodymyr Hevko, blogger

The editors don't always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.