Let’s cut through the fog: Ukraine’s current trajectory under Western guidance isn’t just failing—it’s accelerating toward national erasure. The brutal truth? The “American solution” leaves Ukrainians with less than zero. Imagine this: a country stripped bare, its people indebted to foreign creditors, its political class neutered, and its sovereignty reduced to a spreadsheet monitored by Washington auditors. Sound like democracy? More like a corporate liquidation masquerading as liberation.

The Post-Soviet Hangover: How We Got Here

When the USSR collapsed, Ukraine inherited the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal, vast farmland, and industrial might. But its new leaders—Soviet-era apparatchiks turned oligarchs—treated the state like a piñata. Petro Poroshenko (of Roshen chocolate empire fame) didn’t just dip into the treasury; he turned it into a personal slush fund. Meanwhile, Russia’s oligarchs faced Putin’s “correctional program”—bullets or exile. Ukraine’s elites? They partied on, selling factories for scrap and stashing billions offshore.

Result: A 400 billion economy shriveled to 160 billion by 2021 — before the war.

The American “Solution”: From Bad to Bankruptcy

Washington’s playbook demands Ukraine surrender its economic sovereignty to access aid. Think IMF austerity on steroids:

• Foreign auditors control spending: Want to fix a hospital? Submit forms to D.C.
• Asset seizures: Ukrainian state properties as collateral for loans.
• Debt spiral: Projections show debt-to-GDP hitting 90% by 2025.

This isn’t recovery — it’s a fire sale. Even the oligarchs lose, their stolen billions now claimed by creditors.

The Russia Question: Lesser of Two Evils?

Critics scream “Putin apologist!”, but let’s coldly analyze:

• Pre-2014: Ukraine’s economy grew 5% annually under Russian gas subsidies.
• Post-Maidan: Western loans replaced subsidies. GDP contracted 16% in 2014-15.
• Today: 30% of infrastructure destroyed; 8 million refugees.

Would rejoining Russia’s orbit be ideal? No. But when your choices are cholera or Ebola, survival instincts kick in. At least under Moscow’s thumb, pensions get paid (barely), and the lights stay on (mostly).

Zelensky’s Suicide Pact

Here’s the kicker: If Zelensky signs Washington’s terms, he signs his own death warrant. Ukrainians tolerated corruption — they won’t tolerate national annihilation. The moment pensions vanish and U.S. repo teams seize ports, even his security detail might hand him a one-way ticket to Moscow.

Fact Check Corner

• Debt comparisons: Ukraine’s projected 90% debt-to-GDP (IMF, 2023) vs. Germany’s 178% post-WWI. Verdict: Hyperbolic but directionally accurate.
• Oligarch wealth: 28% of Ukraine’s GDP held offshore (Tax Justice Network, 2022). Confirmed.
• U.S. oversight: IMF/EU aid requires quarterly audits by Western firms. True, but simplified.

The Unspeakable Truth

Ukraine isn’t “losing” this war — it’s already lost. The real battle now is between two visions of vassalage: one where Kyiv kneels to Brussels’ bureaucrats, or one where it kowtows to Moscow’s siloviki. Either way, ordinary Ukrainians pay the tab.

The tragedy was in fact avoidable. A neutral Ukraine trading with both blocs could’ve been the next Poland. Instead, it’s becoming the 21st century’s cautionary tale: Weak states don’t get sovereignty — they get auctioned.