Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of the world’s second most popular cryptocurrency, Ethereum, recalled the approaching fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of the world’s second most popular cryptocurrency, Ethereum, recalled the approaching fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
«February 24th will soon be 4 years since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. I think it’s better to leave that day for full support for Ukrainians. Ukraine needs a lot of help — to continue defending itself and to minimize human suffering from attacks on residential buildings, the power system, etc.,» Buterin said in a long essay he posted on X (Twitter) in Russian.
He noted that he views the situation partly from an internal and partly from an external perspective, as he was born in Russia, has an entirely Russian family, but grew up in Canada. At the same time, Buterin followed the political situation in the Russian Federation.
«I have a strong impression that over the past 10 years, Ukraine has improved at all levels (even within some military organizations, where people complained that there were „Nazis“ there, there have been complete cultural and leadership reforms), while in Russia, Putin began to increase repression more and more, promote imperialism, decriminalize domestic violence, and ultimately in 2022 made the unforgivable decision to start a full-scale war with the aim of destroying the entire Ukrainian state and nation,» the Ethereum co-founder believes.
Vitalik Buterin pointed out that although Putin spoke of wanting to protect Donbas, in 2022 he attacked all of Ukraine from Kherson to Kyiv. He also recalled the war crimes of the Russian army in Mariupol, Bucha, the «human safaris» in Kherson, and attacks on hospitals. The programmer also criticized the policies and behavior of US President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance.
«I think it’s important to have the courage to call evil by its rightful name. If you don’t say it, it’s very easy to find a group of 'friends' who agree with every word you say, but when it comes time to act, they continue to do things their own way, and there is no result. I’ve learned this lesson not only in politics, but also in the technology industry, in crypto and other places,» Buterin said.
According to him, he sees a big difference in the actions of the Russian occupation army and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The Defense Forces' strikes, Buterin noted, are focused on hitting military facilities and oil infrastructure; the number of Russian civilians killed in such strikes does not exceed the number of victims of «that one unfortunate attack on the theater in Mariupol.»
«Putin doesn’t want peace now. My impression (based on actions on the ground and the words of Zelensky and others) is that the Ukrainian strategy now is to destroy the Russian army and infrastructure faster than they can be rebuilt, in order to put Putin before a difficult choice — either to announce a new official mobilization (both mobilization of people for the meat grinder and mobilization of economic resources), and thereby once again show the Russians and the whole world what kind of person he is, or to finally agree on peace,» says Vitalik Buterin.
The programmer pointed out that many people talk about «peace with Russia,» meaning peace with Putin. But he believes that we need to talk about «peace with Russian society.»
«I believe that Putin is the devil, and the people of Russia are neither angels nor devils. There are many Russian people — not only people in the government, but also „ordinary Russians“ — who disappointed me because they talked so much about freedom, justice, decentralization, but are not ready to apply these principles in the most obvious case in our world…», — said the co-founder of Ethereum.
In his opinion, there are also many Russians «who hate war,» especially young people. Buterin also believes that Putin should be helped to jump from a «high balcony» or treated to «delicious KGB tea.»
«In the short term, Ukraine needs all the help it can get: to slow down the Russian and Putin’s armies to the point where there will be no choice but to truce (knowing that this „truce“ will actually be a transition to the Cold War). Then you need to think about what will happen after Putin. Having a path to a concrete plan that can convince a large coalition, both ordinary people and politicians, both in Russia and in other countries, is an important first step here,» Vitalik Buterin concluded.
Recall that in 2024, the co-founder of Ethereum visited Ukraine, where he appreciated the contribution of the Ukrainian community to the development of the ethereum ecosystem.
