Ukrainian pirates against the Russian Empire

[ysi_maniac]

Over the centuries..., on dates I can't remember... But no matter, the fact is that periodically, the Russian empire tries to conquer and dominate the Ukraine in a kind of reverse Oedipus complex.

I don't know, in my confused old man's mind I mix up the '30s, '40s, '80s... I want to tell you one of those stories, which I only remember occurred around the 20th century.

The Russian dictator decided to attack Ukraine and for this he sought a "casus belli" with an alleged discontent of the Russian minorities in eastern Ukraine. At that time there was a great Western Empire and Western alliances in which Ukraine wanted to be admitted. Naturally, Russia did not want Ukraine to join such alliances that were so powerful that they could prevent the invasion.

But, in reality, the alliances did not prevent the invasion for fear of extending the war. However, the countries that bordered Ukraine allowed Ukrainian irregular troops and all kinds of foreign volunteers, to perform harassing and attrition raids on Ukrainian territory against the Russian occupation troops and to refuge in their regions near those borders. Those who for Western alliances were 'Freedom Fighters', for the Russian empire were 'Pirates'. Over time these fighters accepted the term 'Pirate' which is shorter than 'Freedom Fighter', and was well suited to strike fear into their enemies.

The objective of many of these raids was the simple theft of Russian military equipment, including what the invaders seized during the invasion. This material was then repaired and fine-tuned for the needs of the pirates in large and small workshops located at a certain distance from the border. Over the months, these workshops and their work became more complex and evolved, becoming capable of designing and manufacturing new specific models for this piracy. Although they were not 'state of the art', they were useful and efficient.

In order to maintain minimum levels of quality and efficiency, the captured material was not sufficient, not even the majority, and much obsolete or discarded material was received from the armies of all the countries of the Western alliances.

[Tophe]

Those who for Western alliances were 'Freedom Fighters', for the Russian empire were 'Pirates'.

Yes, in every conflict, those who are heroes for one side are bandits for the other side...