Buterin Slams Russian Invasion, Calls for New Opposition Strategies

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum (ETH), has taken a firm stance in support of Ukraine as the country celebrates its fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion. Born in Russia and raised in Canada, Buterin published a lengthy post on X ahead of the Feb. 24 anniversary, calling the war 'criminal aggression' and urging the opposition to develop new strategies.

In his statement, Buterin rejected two common justifications for the invasion: Russia's claimed right to prevent NATO expansion near its borders and the argument that Russian-speaking populations in Crimea and Donbas had a democratic right to join Russia. He acknowledged Western nations' mistakes in the 1990s and 2000s but argued they couldn't justify what happened in 2022.

Buterin pointed to specific events, such as the attack on Mariupol's theater and killings in Bucha, as evidence that the war's aims went beyond protecting Donbas. He also cited an article published by state news agency RIA Novosti in Feb. 2022, which he said revealed Russia's true intentions when it believed it had already won.

In the second part of his post, Buterin turned to what he sees as a dead end for Russia's political opposition, comparing their situation to a stalemate in the cryptocurrency industry. He argued that new voices and new ideas are needed and that the opposition's current leadership structure prevents them from emerging.