By Gregor Tassie

This article is based on personal experience and what is being reported in the Russian media. (1)

Russia’s military intervention in the Ukraine would have been better handled if the Russian Government had put forward a well-presented exposé to the international media of what the Ukrainian regime has been doing to its own population, and the regular shelling of civilian housing in the Donbass over the last 8 years. This could have been used to gain sympathy and understanding of its concerns for Russians living in the Donbass and the security concerns over NATO encroachment eastwards by using all means possible - through the UN, using diplomacy and openly through social media and other means.

Actions by Zelensky’s regime include discrimination against the Russian population in the east and south of Ukraine, arrests of political opponents, banning of the Communist Party and banning celebrations of the defeat of fascism on Victory Day, along with mysterious killings of political opponents. It also withdrew the Russian language from schools and banned its use in public discourse. There was ‘de-communisation’ and the destruction of monuments to Soviet politicians and Army heroes.

All of this has been enforced through the growing influence of neo-Nazi groups in the country, led by Azov, Right-Sector, C14, Svoboda and others who have secured key positions in the state security, police and armed forces. (2) The Minsk-2 agreement on normalising the dispute over the Donbass should have been the means for achieving cooperation of the UN, and other international bodies, yet NATO and the US ignored this demand in successive negotiations. The final element prompting Russia’s military action was certainly the announcement by Zelensky at the Munich Conference that Ukraine would consider acquiring nuclear weapons.

Without this exposé of Ukraine’s anti-Russian actions since the western inspired coup in 2014, the information war has been long lost by Russia, with closure of its news outlets and control of the agenda by both western mainstream and social media leaving no room for alternative news or unbiased views. By effectively banning different opinions or information, the Russian view is banned on most social media sites, which justify this by claiming opponents are just ‘Putin’s puppets’. In such a major international crisis this ‘monopoly of the truth’ represents a particularly dark day for a ‘free press’ in Western countries, and curiously this has been accompanied by increasingly harsher controls in the UK with the 2022 Nationality and Borders Bill, and the proposed “reform” of the Human Rights Act by the Tory government.

NEWS IN RUSSIA AND THE WEST  

How are the Russian people finding out what is happening? Twelve TV stations are broadcasting from Moscow plus dozens more in regions of the country, reporting on the war from both the Donbass and other parts of the country where fighting is ongoing. Most importantly the central TV and radio have regular discussion panels debating aspects of the conflict covering the military, political, diplomatic and economic issues. Questions are raised about the direction of the war, with new stages developing daily. Additionally, there are many bloggers who have daily podcasts on the war, often discussing questions not raised by other media outlets. It is difficult to find a more open approach, compared to the relentless and aggressive manner in which the western media is handling the war and which has caused ‘Russophobia’, perhaps the most harmful tendency since the 1930s.

Contrary to Russian broadcasting, the Kiev regime has masterminded the opportunity to propagate the ‘human aspects’ of the war. On one of the first days of the war, Ukrainian media reported a commander shouting at a Russian naval boat in profane language, after which it was alleged that the Russians shot all the Ukrainian soldiers on the border post on Snake Island. That this strange report came from Kiev was alarming; however, two days later Russian media showed a naval vessel bringing 80 Ukrainian prisoners unharmed into Sevastopol harbour after their surrender on Snake Island. Despite this, the Ukrainians issued a postage stamp to commemorate something that had never happened, creating a ‘fake’ propaganda image. All the captured Ukrainian troops were allowed to go home.

One of the major attempts at demonising the Russian army was the reporting of ‘atrocities’ committed by Russian troops in the wealthy upmarket Kiev suburb of Bucha following their withdrawal on 30 March 2022. Videos taken by the Ukrainian army showed the streets free of bodies, and the Bucha mayor smiling in an interview on the following day. (3) It was April 2/3 that photos were taken of bodies with white armbands (white or red bands identify Russian troops or supporters, whereas blue or yellow identify Ukrainians) lying dead at various places yet without any sign of blood. The real facts emerged on 10 April, when a video was shown of dead bodies being moved onto the road by Ukrainian troops using ropes for photo sessions at Bucha. Around the same time on social media there appeared film of Russian prisoners being tortured and shot by neo-Nazi Ukrainian soldiers. Russian technicians recorded Ukrainian security services on intercepted phone conversations discussing finding bodies for a photo shoot at Bucha, and videos have emerged taken by Ukrainian police advising on suitable spots to ‘place bodies’. (4) Further suggestions of ‘atrocities’ have been made in relation to other towns from which the Russians have retreated, but no dead bodies are to be seen on the streets. The rhyming of the very name ‘Bucha’ with the word ‘Butcher’ has been used to the maximum as propaganda for the Kiev regime, fitting into the agenda of demonising Putin and Russian troops generally. (5)

In addition, a Ukrainian doctor declared on Kiev TV that he would not be against castrating captured Russian troops in hospitals. More and more videos are emerging of captured Ukrainian soldiers admitting their killings of civilians in the Donbas and elsewhere, one saying on video that he ‘was just interested in seeing how she died.’ There have been many incidents of Russian troops being tortured in captivity, and a captured TV crew were beaten up before being exchanged. (6) None of these issues has been covered by western media.

Another event fabricated by the Kiev regime was the alleged Russian shelling of the railway station at Kramatorsk, then occupied by Ukrainian troops. More than 50 civilians died when a missile hit the station, but the line of attack showed it was from a Ukrainian-occupied position 40 miles away and the missile was of a type no longer used by Russian troops. Yet this was declared a ‘war crime’ by Zelensky’s propaganda media.

A large prisoner swap in mid-April of 251 soldiers was not carried through by the Ukrainian side, who did not release captured Russian troops after they got their own troops back.

Most significantly, many of the 'atrocities' reported by the Western media are being exposed as fakes. Zelensky told Boris Johnson that Ukraine would not be observing the Geneva Convention on Human Rights of war prisoners. There have also been several attacks on Russian towns near the border, and terrorist attacks well within Russian territory on military targets and villages, causing deaths and injuries. The behaviour by Ukrainian troops seems to underline the neo-Nazi background of today’s Ukrainian army and the mercenaries working with them. Little of this is appearing in western media outlets.

The BBC has refused to visit such areas for fear of being accused of becoming ‘Putin’s’ puppets.’

As they gained territory, the Russians discovered US and German documents about long standing chemical labs in Ukraine which were developing lethal weapons including numerous chemical substances some of which were used in experiments on humans. Despite these being shown at the UN and to international authorities, they have been largely ignored or suppressed. This is despite Victoria Nuland, US Under Secretary of State, confirming their presence and US cooperation there.

The presentation of the war in Ukraine is very similar to that of the western media playbook for the war in Syria – accusations of bombing civilians and hospitals, genocide, and the use of chemical weapons. All of these ‘events’ have been used to facilitate more lethal weapons being sent to Ukraine, with wide public support.

PEACE TALKS FROZEN 

There is some concern in the West, however, about the direction the war is going after the Russian withdrawal from around Kiev, and the failure of the peace talks. Hostile words by Zelensky, the granting of lend-lease armaments by the US, which are free just now but will have to be paid for later by Ukraine, and Josep Borrell's disturbing statement about finishing the war 'on the battlefield' show there is no sincerity from Ukraine or the West regarding peace talks. Statements from western politicians indicate that the war is going to go on for at least a year or more to the end of 2023. 

Prospects for peace talks seem frozen currently, as the Ukrainian side reneged on the agreement made at Istanbul to recognise the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk republics and Russian sovereignty over Crimea, although there remain lines open for exchange of information. Since then Zelensky has stepped up his aggressive talk in interviews and in his speeches to foreign leaders, and has been demanding more weapons, rather than humanitarian aid. It is interesting that the huge amounts of aid given by the EU far exceeds that given to African countries during the Covid pandemic. The problem for the Ukrainian military is that most of these weapons, including tanks and howitzers, are being destroyed as and when they cross the border; even more are being discovered on newly occupied territory, which will now be used by the Russian army instead. Another issue is that the amount of military hardware being given away by the UK and Germany is depleting their own defence capacity which only leads to further military spending. This has been verified by both British and German government figures. One certain winner from this war are the top US arms companies who will have huge orders in coming years.

RUSSIAN OPINION

Speaking to Russians from different backgrounds, it would seem that many are concerned about the war, not only those who have relatives in Ukraine, but also those who remember recent conflicts in Chechnya and Syria. Most support the army – a popular slogan is ‘Stand by our people’ – and many, both young and old, wear the letter Z or Red Star badges to publicly indicate support. One friend of mine was visiting relatives in Ukraine before the war and was not allowed to leave through a ‘humanitarian corridor’ by people he called ‘neo-Nazis’. Following this, he was picked up as a conscript by the neo-Nazis since when we have not heard any more from him. The hope in the West that Putin is being weakened or losing support is baseless because all the main parties are united, from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) to the right-wing LNDP, the governing United Russia Party and the Orthodox church, and at least 80% of the population. (7) The war has actually increased the level of support for Putin to the high 70s in polling. To date, the war effort has been strongly backed by 30,000 troops from Chechnya, Syria and South Ossetia, with medical support coming from Armenia and Central Asian states.

It was the CPRF that played a decisive role by moving the resolution in the Duma for the recognition of the Donbass republics which got unexpectedly massive support from the other parties. This led to major proposals by the Party for increases in pensions and welfare support being approved by Putin and help for small and medium sized businesses to avoid layoffs. Cash-back schemes were also paid out to people who lost their holidays, as well as emergency flights for Russians stranded abroad when flights were cut off by the EU. There has also been discussion of the possibility of nationalising some of the oligarchs’ oil and gas companies. These measures were originally proposed years ago by the CPRF, but now this is a step forward to alleviate the consequences of sanctions. Indeed, sanctions are not having any tangible effect as oil and gas supplies are already en route to countries in Asia.

Many of the Western companies who have abandoned the Russian market will find it hard to gain trust there again as their place will be filled by other companies from Asia and Latin America as well as newly set up Russian companies. The former dependence on US and European passenger aircraft will be replaced by newly built Russian aircraft, and those Boeings and Airbuses currently in Russian airports will be nationalised by the government. Despite the attempt to destroy the economy, the bank of Russia stated that it has enough funds in hand to avert any default by western creditors. Several European states have refused to sanction Russia (Hungary and Serbia) and notably Austria and Germany are already stating that carrying through sanctions is going to have grave consequences.

Suggestions have been made that Russia should annex the regions of Kherson and Zaporozhe in the south of Ukraine adjoining Crimea to protect the Russian-speaking population there. Pensions and welfare payments have already been paid out in Kherson. A meeting to discuss annexation to Russia was overwhelmingly passed in Zaporozhe on 20 April. It is becoming clearer that when this conflict is over, both Russia’s and Europe’s places in the world order will be quite different, and perhaps US hegemony fatally altered.

(1) Gregor Tassie is fluent in Russian and has strong links with Russia and the former Soviet Union

(2) Understanding Ukrainian Nazism | MR Online

(3) Global lies over Bucha: How people’s minds are manipulated. - waronfakes.com

(4) https://srbin.info/en/svet/sta-se-zaista-dogodilo-u-buci-novinar-raskrinkao-ukrajinsku-provokaciju/?ysclid=l280nv381a

(5) The provocation in Bucha as an excuse for the Western intervention | Katehon think tank. Geopolitics & Tradition

(6) Execution of Russian POWs by AFU and Georgian fighters on March 30 (Video 21+)South Front

(7) Latest Russian Polls: Attitudes Toward Ukraine War, Sanctions, Protests, Emigrating | Russia Matters

President Zelensky with Prime Minister Boris Johnson

State censored news - photo by Sebastiandoe5

...Zelensky has stepped up his aggressive talk in interviews and in his speeches to foreign leaders, and has been demanding more weapons, rather than humanitarian aid.