An editorial in a well-known Kremlin media seems to justify the war with its call for the erasure of Ukrainian identity, a language that geopolitical experts say is particularly alarming after the discovery of dozens of dead civilians on the outskirts of Kyiv.
Written by Timofey Sergeytsev in RIA Novosti, the rhetoric in the editorial entitled “What Russia Should Do in Ukraine” is inflammatory, even by the usual standards of the Russian state media.
She claims that the word “Ukraine” itself is synonymous with Nazism and cannot be allowed to exist.
“Denazification is inevitably de-Ukrainization,” Sergeitsev wrote, saying the idea of Ukrainian culture and identity was false.
A prominent scholar whose career has been spent studying historical genocide has said he is sick of reading the article, but is also convinced that the Kremlin is using it to justify atrocities in Ukraine against the Russian people and the military.
“It’s just a clear, fairly neat pattern for what’s going to happen,” said Eugene Finkel, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. “This article crossed the line between talking and thinking about the invasion as a kind of gathering of war crimes into something much more coordinated.”
Bags with the bodies of civilians, who residents say were killed by Russian army soldiers, can be seen in a cemetery after being taken from the streets of Bucha, near Kyiv. (Reuters / Zohra Benzema)
When Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a military invasion of neighboring Ukraine on February 24, he justified the war by describing it as a way to “demilitarize” and “denationalize” the country – completely baseless propaganda.
Yet Sergeytsev’s editorial takes advantage of these words and takes them much further, writing that Ukraine’s elite “must be liquidated because re-education is impossible” and because “a significant part of the masses … are passive Nazis and accomplices “, Russia’s punishment for the Ukrainian people is justified.
A former Canadian ambassador to Ukraine said he was deeply concerned, noting that the editorial read as a guide with instructions for Russian soldiers.
“This is essentially a rhetorical ‘murder license,'” said Roman Vashchuk, who continues to work closely with Zelensky’s government in Ukraine.
“He says that if someone impresses you as a terrible Ukrainian, you can ‘just remove’ him for the good of the cause.”
WATCH The Ukrainian MP called on the West to stop Russia’s “inhuman” tactics
“Literally inhuman”: Ukrainian MP calls on Canada to step up support after Bucha atrocities
Ukrainian lawmaker Yevhenia Kravchuk told CBC Power & Politics that her country needed more military assistance from Canada to stop Russian forces from killing Ukrainian civilians, and that the only way to do so was to “expel the Russians from our territory.” 8:15
The editorial was published on April 3, the same day that the bodies of at least a dozen civilians were found in the Kiev suburb of Bucha following the withdrawal of Russian forces.
Many of the bodies showed signs of torture or their hands were tied when they were killed. An eyewitnesss told the media that civilians had been executed by Russian soldiers during almost a month of occupation.
Many world leaders have accused the Russian military of committing war crimes, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada Melanie Beautifuland they want Putin to be investigated as a war criminal.
“Nothing is published without permission”
The key question, of course, is whether the editorial directs the Kremlin’s actual policy toward Ukraine – or whether the author is trying to push Russia’s leadership in that direction.
While Russian state media sources are known for outrageous allegations, RIA Novosti is considered particularly close to the Kremlin and often tries to reflect official thinking, Finkel said.
“We’re talking about an official state news agency here, and nothing is published without permission from above.”
Washchuk says he believes there is enough evidence to suggest that Russia intends to eliminate as many prominent Ukrainian leaders as possible.
View of a dragon with the image of Russian President Vladimir Putin in his mouth in a pond in Helsing, Denmark. Some world leaders have suggested that Putin be tried as a war criminal. (Mads Klaus Rasmussen via REUTERS)
“Western intelligence agencies said in January that Russia was compiling murder lists and arrest lists of people it considered hostile to their cause and too Ukrainian,” he said.
“This [editorial] it just says the quiet part of the voice. “
Other Russian media observers have suggested that while it is certainly possible that the editorial was published with the consent of the Kremlin leadership, this is not necessarily the case.
“This is not the Kremlin’s official line,” said Kirill Martinov, deputy editor of Novaya Gazeta, Russia’s most famous independent media outlet.
Justification for an unjust war
Martinov left Russia in the days after the invasion due to government repression against independent media. He now works in Riga, Latvia.
Martinov said he suspected that the author of the article had been asked by the publisher to offer some justification for what was happening in Ukraine – and this editorial is what he invented, reflecting the ad hoc nature of the invasion since it began. six weeks ago.
“They [the Kremlin] they started the war for no reason and then came up with a fantastic explanation of why it is necessary… the longer the war lasts, the more fantastic the explanations will be, ”Martinov told CBC News.
Sergeitsev, the author of the editorial, previously wrote other extreme material about Ukraine for the same publication and appeared as an expert on Russian state television, but his name is unknown in Russia.
People reacted when they gathered near a mass grave in the city of Bucha, northwest of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Sunday. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has accused Russia of committing “genocide” and trying to eliminate “the entire nation” of Ukraine. (Sergey Supinski / AFP / Getty Images)
Martinov said it was impossible to know the impact of a single editorial like the Russian population, given Ukraine’s constant demonization in the state media and that other sources of information about the war were banned.
The Levada Institute, perhaps the most renowned sociologist in Russia, reported a week after the war began, Putin’s approval rating rose to 83 percent, but Martinov warned against reading too much.
“This is a complicated story for public opinion polls in a totalitarian regime,” he said. “People are pretending [in order] to keep families and jobs safe. “
Since Russian bombs and artillery began destroying cities such as Mariupol and Chernigov, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has accused Russian forces of committing “genocide”, which he repeated on Monday after the discovery of dead and tortured civilians in Bucha. He said Russia was trying to eliminate “the whole nation” of Ukraine.
Putin met with Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borissov at the Kremlin in Moscow. (Mikhail Klimentiev / Kremlin through REUTERS)
But Finkel, a genocide researcher, said he was usually reluctant to use the term because it was very difficult to prove.
“The definition of [genocide] are acts committed with the intent to destroy an ethical, racial or national group, “he said.” We tend to call what we don’t like genocide. But there is a criterion that is quite difficult to prove: you have to prove an intention that is almost impossible to do. “
However, Finkel says that articles like the one in RIA Novosti, along with speeches denying Ukrainian identity, made by Vladimir Putin and former president Dmitry Medvedev point to a pattern of behavior and probably show intention.
The “kill these people” orders from above may not be clear, but the combination of state rhetoric and the actions of the soldiers on the ground makes me think that [this is] it’s not just some units that are losing moral discipline – it’s bigger than that. “
For Ukrainians, the eventual validation of Russia’s agenda may not have a very direct impact on how the war unfolds or even on the military aid that Western countries provide.
But Vashchuk says this will definitely make negotiations with Russia more difficult.
“This means that it is much more difficult to reach any temporary peace proposals,” the former ambassador said.
“The Bucha killings are an emotional barrier and make it difficult for Western countries to end Ukraine’s war.”
Add Comment