After the events in Venezuela, social media is flooded with the same kind of posts:
“The United States handled Venezuela in three hours, Moscow tried to take Kyiv in three days – and failed! We are tough! And the only ones tougher than us are the Carpathian mountains!”
Yes. We are tough.
Especially those who, in the first hours and days of the war, went to defend Ukraine. These people deserve the deepest respect. At the moment when their own lives and health were in direct danger, they did not run away – they went toward danger. And they defeated it.
All of this is true.
But now I want to remind you of one thing.
Moscow acted according to the same pattern as the U.S. in Venezuela
Russia started the war in almost the same way the United States acted in Venezuela.
First – missiles and bombs.
Air defense bases.
Military airfields.
Imagine for a moment:
What if Moscow had destroyed Ukraine’s air defense and aircraft in the first hours of the war?
What if Russia had gained full air superiority?
Then the Hostomel airfield would certainly have been captured.
Russian airborne troops would have landed without resistance.
All opposition would have been crushed from the air.
Artillery would have been silenced by airstrikes.
More troops would have been flown in.
Kyiv’s fate would have been completely different.
But that didn’t happen
Why?
Because just before the invasion, Ukrainian fighter jets were ordered to take off.
Because air defense units were ordered to leave their bases and deploy in the field.
The Russians bombed empty coordinates.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian air defense and air force began doing their job.
Russia did not gain air superiority.
The army was already on the move
Russia still had the chance to maneuver its troops.
There were plenty of them.
But…
The 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade – the Black Zaporozhians – arrived in time to defend Kyiv along the Irpin River.
I served in this brigade myself.
I spoke with sergeants and officers.
They told me:
They did not move out on the 24th, when the invasion began.
They moved out already on the morning of the 23rd.
For a long time I couldn’t understand how that was possible.
Then General Naiev explained it in an interview:
The brigades had been ordered to move to combat positions before the invasion.
That’s why they made it in time.
The same happened in Kharkiv.
The occupiers were met on the ring road within hours.
And they were given battle.
Not by volunteers.
But by regular army units.
Commanders.
Equipment.
Artillery.
Fire support.
Territorial defense – respect, but honesty
I bow to everyone who joined the territorial defense in the first hours of the war.
That takes courage.
But I will say this directly:
If the enemy had been met only by armed volunteers, our situation would have been catastrophic.
I know this because I spoke to people who tried to stop the enemy on their own in Irpin.
Fortunately, they had the sense to retreat and later join army units.
The enemy was not stopped by chaos.
The enemy was stopped by the army.
One man took responsibility
All of this happened because in Ukraine there was a man who:
– ordered air defense units to leave their bases
– ordered aircraft into the sky
– ordered brigades to combat positions
This man took a huge risk.
He overstepped his authority.
Formally, only the Commander-in-Chief could give such orders.
But at that time, the political leadership was still dreaming about May barbecues.
This man took responsibility.
And saved Ukraine.
His name is
General Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
That is why Maduro lost
Maduro lost because he didn’t have his own Zaluzhnyi.
Because he didn’t have a soldier behind him willing to take responsibility.
The United States never even tried to occupy Venezuela.
Zaluzhnyi did not defend Zelensky.
He defended Ukraine.
Whether anyone likes it or not –
we still exist as a state largely thanks to his decisions.