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I can only imagine you share my disgust and horror at what’s going on in Ukraine. It’s heart breaking. This week on Fresh Dialogues, we get an intimate look at the war, from a Ukrainian in Silicon Valley who has team members on the front lines. Highlights of our interview were picked up by the BBC World Service. I asked Sergey Lubarsky what’s likely to happen in the next few days and week. He explained why he expects an apocalyptic escalation of violence in Ukraine and how that could be averted.
“The world has never been that close to a nuclear holocaust. Never. You have a deranged person with a nuclear strike capabilities who has nothing to lose. He has zero regard for human life….Putin is irrational. He cannot back off, has no exit strategy. He’s not going to be killed by his cabinet members.” Sergey Lubarsky, tech entrepreneur.
[Photo credit: Nicole, a half Russian, half Ukrainian girl attending an anti-war protest by Kaylee C Greenlee Beal, San Antonio Express News]
This week, I reached out to Lubarsky who was born in the Eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, close to the border with Russia. Today, Lubarsky is a Silicon Valley based tech entrepreneur with a team of 15 in Ukraine. He shared:
- powerful stories from colleagues on the front lines of the Ukrainian resistance.
- an insightful perspective on the role of tech companies in the information war.
- why President Zelensky is “the George Washington of Ukraine.”
- the worst case scenario he expects, and how it might be prevented.
BBC Host, Fergus Nicoll, invited me on Wednesday to share highlights of my interview on the BBC World Service program, Business Matters. We also discussed, with Peter Ryan of ABC in Australia, the propaganda war in Russia and Ukraine; the role of cryptocurrency; and how President Zelensky and his cabinet are expertly leveraging social media to rally support from tech companies and the Western world to meet their urgent needs. I also added my perspective on Donald Trump’s latest speech, when he calls the U.S a “stupid country” and praises Putin’s “smarts”. Given what’s happening today in Ukraine, in my view, it should make his Republicans supporters examine their consciences.
Listen to the BBC Business Matters podcast (starting at 15:30)
Here’s the Fresh Dialogues podcast
This week’s Fresh Dialogues podcast includes highlights of the BBC program and some powerful extracts from my interview with Sergey Lubarsky. Here is a transcript of some of our conversation (edited for length and clarity):
Sergey Lubarsky: I’ve never had Ukrainian by passport. I left (31 years ago) holding a Soviet passport. Until the first invasion in 2014, I would never consider myself Ukrainian because it was a moot point, I’m bilingual.
Alison van Diggelen: How do you feel about that now?
Sergey Lubarsky: I’m proud to be Ukrainian. I’m so proud of my people. A week ago if you asked me, I’d have said there’s corruption there… (Today) I’m speechless, they deserve so much credit.
Sergey has a team of 15 in Ukraine. He says some are on the front lines, some are hiding in subways or basements and some have fled the country.
Alison van Diggelen: Are you concerned that they’re in danger?
Sergey Lubarsky: Several of them joined the national territory defense. It’s basically the national guard.
Alison van Diggelen: Are they sharing details?
Sergey Lubarsky: One of my developers said: This is open safari. We’re burning their tanks, the Russians are fleeing their tanks, the locals are killing them by the bunch, their dogs are eating their flesh and we’re burying them.
They can only use the roads because it’s springtime, they can’t move their weapon systems through open fields. It’s guerrilla warfare. If you take down the first two tanks, the whole convoy is stalled. There’s nowhere to go. They can’t do a U-turn and go back.
Lubarsky points to the Orange revolution and the Budapest Treaty in which the U.K. and the U.S. committed in 1994 to protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine in exchange for Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons. He feels that the West has not lived up to its side of the bargain.
Alison van Diggelen: What more should be done by Facebook?
Sergey Lubarsky: Zuckerberg had no problem to block accounts from people who didn’t agree with him politically. Zuckerberg should suspend accounts of people who support this war. It’s informational warfare. There’s a reason why Putin took half of the TV broadcasting station in Kiev. Information is important to morale. Zuckerberg should turn on his censorship machine and start censoring people who actively support Putin, or there will be more corpses. The people will not know the truth.
Alison van Diggelen: What would you say to Putin, if you had the chance?
Sergey Lubarsky: If you have a madman running in your street, killing your neighbors, do you have a desire to talk to him? He’s a a deranged dude…a madman with nuclear capabilities on the loose.
Alison van Diggelen: What about President Zelensky, he’s a global hero?
“All of a sudden, Zelensky is a Ukrainian George Washington, the father of the Ukrainian nation. What we’re witnessing right now is the birth of a nation. He has a bullseye on his back, not metaphorically: there are several special forces groups deployed to kill him and his cabinet. President Biden calls him to offer him a ride (flee the country) and Zelensky broadcasts his whereabouts in Kiev. That’s what keeps them going. Without his courage, the resistance would probably have collapsed three days ago.” Sergey Lubarsky
Alison van Diggelen: Tell me about your Ukrainian community here in Silicon Valley, and Russian friends?
Sergey Lubarsky: Nobody can work. Every friend of mine from Russia calls me and apologizes. (They say) we can’t believe it’s happening….We have a huge support from them.
Alison van Diggelen: Are they in tears?
Sergey Lubarsky: Oh yes. A have a best friend, a Muscovite. He knows me well and says: are you still talking to me? Every person of Russian descent, we’re all ex-Soviet Union. For me: Am I Russian, Ukrainian, am I a Jew? Who cares? It makes no difference. People call and say: I’m in tears with you. A friend asks me where can I donate the money?
Alison van Diggelen: What is the best case scenario for a resolution?
Sergey Lubarsky: I see a nuclear strike at Ukraine. Putin is an international pariah, he has no exit strategy. He’s destroyed the Russian economy, the Russian people suffer. A friend of mine is medical doctor and professor in Russia. He can’t send money to support his children studying in Europe because of the SWIFT system sanctions. Russia is in the economic stone age and Putin can’t go back and say: on second thought, that was a bad idea, let’s move the troops back. I don’t see a best case scenario.
Sergey Lubarsky: What would you say to President Biden?
Sergey Lubarsky: Biden is doing everything right, one step too late….The West is not working proactively. The West needs to declare Putin a war criminal today. It would stop the generals of his army. They will know “I was just following the commands” is not a line anymore. They will be hanged. The West needs to declare that any Russian soldier, officer will be implicated if they use weapons of mass destruction and be prosecuted personally. That will deter them, they have families. Biden needs to do it today before it’s too late. When the (nuclear) bomb goes off in Kharkiv it’ll be too late.
The only way to assure nothing happens is to declare Putin a war criminal today, it will send a chilling message to his entourage that they will be hanged, as the Germans were hanged after Nuremberg. That might deter him.
Lubarsky is collecting money for the Ukrainian resistance. You can support him and contribute here.
