Putin must return $204 billion to the United States

We can waive interest payments as a humanitarian gesture

The arsenal of fascism requires certain key elements to succeed. It needs

1. A man hungry for power
2. A good bunch of cronies.
3. A population controlled with fear and driven by hatred.
4. A feckless opposition clueless to break the propaganda machine created by the group in power.

Of these, only the first three are under the complete control of the man at the top; the fourth stays slightly outside his grasp in the modern era.

The per-capita income ($14,391) of the world’s largest petro-state is the sole indicator necessary to understand Russian President Vladimir Putin’s governing capabilities. He cannot win a free and fair election. As a result, he relies on wars to maintain his grip on power. To sustain these wars, he banks on fascism. Propaganda becomes a crucial tool in his arsenal to establish a fascist regime.

Vladimir Putin’s propaganda persists unchecked, infiltrating both Russia and the global community. Every May 9th, he delivers a speech asserting that the Soviet Union defeated the Nazis. This year, he escalated by proclaiming that the Soviet Union determined the “fate of humanity.”

Only two nations can rightfully stake that claim: the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

No one else.

If the Russian President wishes to share credit with the United States and the United Kingdom, he must reimburse the cost of the items that the Soviet Union took from both nations.

All images in this story are licensed. Text added by me.

The total cost of the supplies acquired by the Soviet Union from the United States amounted to $11.3 billion at the time. In today’s value, that equates to $204 billion, excluding interest. If Putin genuinely seeks to share credit with the United States for shaping the course of humanity, he ought to reimburse this amount. Given the precarious state of the Russian economy and the contributions of ordinary Russians, it may be reasonable to waive the interest rate.

He who bullshits can only do so, when he who is supposed to say the truth stays mum.

The great Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, invaded Poland on September 17th, 1939, sixteen days after the Nazis invaded Poland from the west. It is very interesting to note that both armies seemingly knew where to halt, and the border between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in Poland was so distinctly delineated that not a single bullet was exchanged between them.

How on earth did the following border come to be?

Temporary borders created by advancing German and Soviet troops. The border was soon readjusted following diplomatic agreements. Image in public domain.

The Soviet Union did not determine the fate of humanity; rather, it struck a deal with the Nazis to partition Europe. In August 1939, both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany reached an agreement known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

Only after the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, did Joseph Stalin realize that his strategy of sitting back and allowing his enemies, both the Nazis and the West, to destroy each other was flawed. He understood that he faced the imminent threat of being overrun by the Wehrmacht.

Under-prepared would be a huge understatement to describe the Soviet armed forces in 1941.

The Germans got off to a good start, with the panzer groups quickly pushing towards their objectives and Russian forces falling apart in confusion. They were greatly helped by the Luftwaffe’s bombing of Soviet airfields, artillery positions and troop concentrations. The Germans quickly established air superiority. On the first day alone 1,800 Soviet aircraft were destroyed, most of them on the ground.

Soviet air-force was decimated at the start of the war. Their ground forces did not fare well either.

Soviet tank units were rarely well equipped, and they lacked training and logistical support. Units were sent into combat with no arrangements in place for refuelling, ammunition resupply, or personnel replacement. Often, after a single engagement, units were destroyed or rendered ineffective. The Soviet numerical advantage in heavy equipment was thoroughly offset by the superior training and organisation of the Wehrmacht.

Roughly three million soldiers of the Wehrmacht went into action on 22nd June and faced slightly fewer Soviet troops at the border, (poland). Accompanying the German forces during the initial invasion were Finnish and Romanian units as well.

The unprepared Soviet troops were no match for the well-organized Wehrmacht. In just three short months, the Nazis seized control of the Baltic states and parts of Ukraine. By August 1941, the Nazi forces were advancing deeper and deeper into the Soviet Union.

Stalin, who had previously struck a secret deal with the Nazis in 1939, swiftly turned to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, pleading for assistance.

Moscow not only requested “maximum possible” help from Great Britain, but also sought military advice and technical assistance. Churchill, fully aware of the nature of the regime he was dealing with, must have observed the clear manner in which the Nazis and the Soviet Union divided Poland between them. He could have opted to emulate Stalin’s principled 1939 approach, and allowed the Nazis and the Soviet Union to destroy each other, while he remained a passive observer.

But Churchill did not do a Stalin.

He did not pursue the Soviet strategy to watch their ideological enemies destroy each other. He chose humanity.

He instructed his cabinet to devise a plan to aid the Soviet Union. Fortunately, he had Franklin Roosevelt, the President of the United States as an ally. The United States of America was already supplying Great Britain through a lend-lease program iniated in March 1941. Together Churchill and Roosevelt added Soviet Union to the list of allied nations recieving assistance from the United States.

The first convoy of ships, codenamed Operation Dervish, transporting supplies to the Soviet Union, departed from Liverpool, United Kingdom, on August 12th and arrived at the port of Archangel, Soviet Union, on August 31st.

By that time, the Nazis had already reached the doorstep of Leningrad.

Leningrad’s capture was one of three strategic goals in the German Operation Barbarossa and the main target of Army Group North. The strategy was motivated by Leningrad’s political status as the former capital of Russia and the symbolic capital of the Russian Revolution and Bolshevism hated by the Nazi Party, the city’s military importance as a main base of the Soviet Baltic Fleet, and its industrial strength, including its numerous arms factories. In 1939, the city was responsible for 11% of all Soviet industrial output.

Had Leningrad fallen to the Nazis, the consequences would have been dire. The battle for Leningrad played a crucial role in halting the momentum of the Nazis and preventing further catastrophic outcomes.

The number of days between the first Arctic Convoy reaching the Soviet Union and the beginning of the battle for Leningrad:

Leningrad never succumbed to the Nazis. By the end of 1941, with support from the United Kingdom and backed by the United States, nearly 300,000 tons of supplies had been provided to the struggling Soviet Union.

Ten Artic Convoys in less than six months.

According to the Arctic Convoy Museum, the convoys “were a monumental collaborative effort to provide aid to the Soviet Union to bolster its defences against the invading German forces. The supplies were delivered by merchant vessels, escorted by warships and shielded by air cover. The route went through perilous Arctic waters, and the ships sailed under the constant threat of air, surface vessel and U-boat attacks. This prompted Winston Churchill to declare the route the worst journey in the world”.

When the war ended, the Soviet Union had acquired a massive amount of supplies from the West. What role did 14,000 airplanes and 13,000 tanks play in determining the fate of humanity? How much did the United States and United Kingdom’s decision to not consider the motives behind the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact contribute to determining the fate of humanity?

Vladimir Putin is not merely attempting to rewrite history; he is also striving to portray the entire West as a fascist Nazi state. Unless his propaganda is directly countered, the consequences for future generations will be significant. He continues to evade repercussions because, unlike Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt, the current leaders of the West fail to grasp the importance of effective communication.

They do not understand the significance of debunking falsehoods on the global stage. It is no coincidence that Putin selects May 9th to rewrite history; he aims for his speeches to be documented for future generations. He is sowing seeds of deception for the future, not merely concealing history, but rewriting it.

The most effective approach for the United States and United Kingdom to counter this is by asserting their claim to the entirety of Russia’s frozen assets in exchange for the supplies they furnished to the Soviet Union during the World War.

Reopen the issue on the world stage. Illuminate the amount of assistance the Soviet Union acquired. Foster global discourse on the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Shed light on Stalin’s transformation from adversary to ally and his previous identity before aligning with the West.

The United Kingdom contributed 90% of the reverse lend-lease assistance received by the United States, amounting to nearly $8 billion out of the $50.1 billion aid the United States provided to the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, France, the Republic of China, and other Allied nations.

As far as I’ve checked, the Soviet Union provided nothing in return. The Kremlin should pay up, because they cannot shut up.

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