www-russia.org

Chapter 30: The Grand Delusion

The trial now pivoted from the visceral horror of war crimes to the cold, grand architecture of the crime itself. The prosecution sought to prove its most audacious charge: that the war had never been in Russia’s national interest, but was a crime committed against the Russian state in the service of one man’s imperial fantasy.

The star witness for this charge was Alexei Voronkov himself. His presence in the Hague was a seismic political event, a sitting head of government testifying against his predecessor. He was sworn in, his testimony not an act of vengeance, but a solemn, constitutional duty.

The centerpiece of his testimony was a large, pre-war planning map, a document that had been unearthed from the presidential archives, codenamed ‘Southern Sun.’ The prosecutor, his voice a steady, dispassionate guide, walked the court through the chilling scope of the former President’s ambition.

“My Lords,” he began, a laser pointer tracing a red line on the map. “The world was told this was about protecting the Donbas. But as you can see, the land corridor to Crimea was merely Phase One.” The red line solidified, connecting Rostov to Kherson. “Phase Two was the complete naval and air domination of the Black Sea, using the captured Ukrainian coastline as a massive, unsinkable aircraft carrier.”

He pointed to accompanying naval documents, plans for a permanent Black Sea fleet that would dwarf that of any other regional power. Then, he zoomed out, revealing the true, terrifying scope of the grand delusion. “And Phase Three… the ultimate goal. With the Black Sea as a Russian lake, the next step was to exert overwhelming, permanent pressure on Turkey, a NATO member. To control the Bosphorus not by treaty, but by threat. To destabilize the Balkans. To hold a knife to the soft underbelly of Europe, choking off its trade and energy routes at will.”

The map was not a plan for a war. It was a blueprint for a new world order, with a new Tsar at its center.

Voronkov then took the floor, his voice resonating with a quiet, powerful authority. He spoke not as a lawyer, but as the new guardian of the Russian state.

“The pursuit of this dream,” Voronkov said, his eyes fixed on the judges, “was the ultimate act of treason against the Russian people. For twenty years, the General Director of our nation believed that greatness lay not in the prosperity of our citizens, but in the conquest of our neighbors. He took our immense national wealth—the wealth that now funds the people’s Dividend—and poured it into this megalomaniacal fantasy. The pursuit of Turkey, the dream of choking the world… these were his private desires, not the national interest of Russia.”

He paused, letting the weight of his next words fill the silent courtroom. “His actions led to the collapse of our economy, the destruction of our global reputation, and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of our finest young men. The facts are clear. This was not a war for Russia. It was a war against Russia.”

In the dock, something in the former President finally snapped. The mask of bored indifference shattered, replaced by a face contorted with pure, venomous rage. Betrayed by his generals, by his spies, and now by the man who had taken his throne. He surged to his feet, violating his lawyer’s frantic orders.

“Traitor!” he screamed, his voice a raw, cracking roar. “You are a coward! I was fighting for our soul! For our history! You are selling it all to the West for nothing!” His face was purple, a vein throbbing in his temple. “I was fighting for glory! You will bury us in debt and shame!”

Two guards moved in and gently but firmly pushed him back into his seat. But his words, his raw, unfiltered confession, hung in the air.

Voronkov watched the outburst with a cold, almost pitying calm. The man in the dock had just proven his entire case.

The prosecutor rose. “No further questions, My Lords.”

The Discourse, 30: The State vs. The Leader

Section 30.1: The "Crime Against the State" Argument
The prosecution's strategy in this section is a sophisticated and powerful legal maneuver. By arguing that the former President's actions were not in the "national interest," they are effectively positioning the new Russian state, represented by Voronkov, as a victim of the former President's crimes, alongside Ukraine. This is a crucial distinction. It reframes the conflict not as a war between two nations (Russia vs. Ukraine), but as a series of crimes committed by a rogue regime against multiple victims, including its own people and its own state apparatus. This legal framing is vital for the new government's project of national reconciliation and reintegration into the international community.

Section 30.2: The Psychology of Megalomania
The "Southern Sun" map reveals the psychology of the megalomaniac. The ambition is so grandiose and all-encompassing that it has become detached from any rational calculation of cost or risk. The plan to dominate the Black Sea and challenge a NATO member like Turkey is not a conventional geopolitical strategy; it is a fantasy of imperial restoration. For such a leader, the state is no longer an entity with its own interests to be served (prosperity, stability), but is merely a vehicle for the leader's own personal, historical ambition. As Voronkov argues, the national interest has been completely subsumed by the leader's private desires.

Section 30.3: The "Confession Through Outburst"
The former President's final, furious outburst is a classic psychological phenomenon. Having maintained a disciplined facade of indifference for the entire trial, he finally breaks not under legal pressure, but under the perceived personal betrayal of being condemned by his own successor, by another Russian. His words—"I was fighting for glory! For our soul!"—are a complete confession. He does not deny the facts presented; he confirms the prosecution's central argument about his motive. He admits that the war was not about national security or any tangible interest, but about the pursuit of an abstract, romantic, and ultimately personal notion of "glory." This is the moment the legal case and the psychological portrait of the man become one and the same.