Europe Solidaire Sans FrontièresRussia has empowered dangerous factions in Zelenskyy’s army.

Aris Roussinos

Like any war, but perhaps more than most, the war in Ukraine has seen a bewildering barrage of claims and counter-claims made by the online supporters of each side. Truth, partial truths and outright lies compete for dominance in the media narrative. Vladimir Putin’s claim that Russia invaded Ukraine to “de-Nazify” the country is surely one of the clearest examples. The Russian claim that the Maidan revolution of 2014 was a “fascist coup” and that Ukraine is a Nazi state has been used for years by Putin and his supporters to justify his occupation of Crimea and support for Russian-speaking separatists in the country’s east, winning many online adherents.

But the Russian claim is false: Ukraine is a genuine liberal-democratic state, though an imperfect one, with free elections that produce significant changes of power, including the election, in 2019, of the liberal-populist reformer, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukraine is, unequivocally, not a Nazi state: the Russian casus belli is a lie. And yet, there is a danger that the understandable desire by Ukrainian and Western commentators not to provide ammunition for Russian propaganda has led to an over-correction — and one that may not ultimately serve Ukraine’s best interests.



The Truth About Ukraine’s Far-Right Militias

Europe Solidaire Sans FrontièresRussia has empowered dangerous factions in Zelenskyy’s army.

Aris Roussinos

Like any war, but perhaps more than most, the war in Ukraine has seen a bewildering barrage of claims and counter-claims made by the online supporters of each side. Truth, partial truths and outright lies compete for dominance in the media narrative. Vladimir Putin’s claim that Russia invaded Ukraine to “de-Nazify” the country is surely one of the clearest examples. The Russian claim that the Maidan revolution of 2014 was a “fascist coup” and that Ukraine is a Nazi state has been used for years by Putin and his supporters to justify his occupation of Crimea and support for Russian-speaking separatists in the country’s east, winning many online adherents.

But the Russian claim is false: Ukraine is a genuine liberal-democratic state, though an imperfect one, with free elections that produce significant changes of power, including the election, in 2019, of the liberal-populist reformer, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukraine is, unequivocally, not a Nazi state: the Russian casus belli is a lie. And yet, there is a danger that the understandable desire by Ukrainian and Western commentators not to provide ammunition for Russian propaganda has led to an over-correction — and one that may not ultimately serve Ukraine’s best interests.



3 comments:

  1. Yet another reason why negotiations, without preconceived conditions, ought commence immediately.

    This war will end. It will end one way or another; best if it ended sooner rather than later. A mediated end to the conflict between Putin and the Ukraine could be achieved under the auspices of the UN, if China, India and the NATO powers were to become a party to the oversight of it.

    That solution may not necessarily be the one currently favoured by the US but it would be the one more Ukrainians would live with and the one more Europeans would prosper from.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Monsanto in Ukraine;
    America has only (Corporate ) Interests.''
    ''In God We Trust''
    The Almighty Petro/Pharmaceutical/GM
    Dollar

    ReplyDelete