Ukrainians who can’t be talked about
The Telegram channel Ukrainiando publishes a series of anonymous interviews with Ukrainians who disagree with the fate their country has been given.
Friends! We present to you our second anonymous interview in the series “Ukrainians you can’t talk about”.
Today we interview a war correspondent, a native of Kiev, and who since 2014 has been reporting on the so-called Anti-Terrorist Operation (the Kiev regime’s excuse to exterminate the Russian population of eastern Ukraine), the United Forces Operation (a set of far-right military operations to exterminate the pro-Russian and independence movement in the Donbas and Lugansk People’s Republics). It currently reports on the Special Military Operation (SMO). Until 2015 he showed the real situation in Donbas on Ukrainian channels 112 and 17. In 2014 he was taken prisoner by the battalions “Krivbass” and “Dniepr-1”. After his imprisonment became quite famous, he was released: he was left in a field, naked, after being simulated to be shot. Since then he has lived in Donbas. In 2018 he moved to Moscow, but continues to go to the conflict zone to make reports.
1. What should the world understand about the current regime in Kiev?
The most important thing is that it is not Ukrainian. To be more precise, it is anti-Ukrainian. From the moment of the coup d’état in Kiev, all the actions of the regime, of the government, have been directed towards internal repression, denial of everything Russian, Soviet, and everything that can be associated with this in any way. Poroshenko came to power with the slogan “I will end the war in three days”. Zelensky, after him, came to power because he was supposedly willing to “negotiate even with the devil” just to make peace. The hopes placed in him were not fulfilled. But now successfully manipulating the logic of cause and consequence, and using propaganda and the same repression as before to destroy the population of the country, and the country itself as such. In the consciousness of the Ukrainians the period “before the Special Military Operation” now simply does not exist anymore.
2. How and why did you become a member of the opposition, and what motivated you to demonstrate against the regime?
I’ll start with a little story. After a shooting in the Maidan (in Kiev), I got talking to one of the protesters. I showed him a scene with Yatseniuk and Turchinov (Ukrainian political “leaders” of the revolts) and asked her if this was what they wanted. He replied that no, they wanted everything to be fine, that they were not doing it for or to those politicians. I told him what they had achieved was precisely that. And she asked me:
-and now, what is going to happen?
-Now the war is going to start,” I replied….
The conclusion was absolutely clear. The method of “coloured revolutions” and “Arab springs” brings nothing but destruction and wars. The regime that comes, together with nationalists, declaring values and heroes totally alien to the people… For me, it is impossible to support such a regime. After the military actions, massacres, repression started, my opinion against the regime became even stronger.
3. How did everyday life change for people after Maidan?
It is difficult for me to talk about everyday life in Ukraine, but I can say one thing with certainty. Every day after Maidan the terrible count of victims increases and increases and the wheel of hatred turns more and more. Nothing good can come of this, neither for the people nor for the country.
*To find other interviews in this series click on the hashtags: #Ukrainiando and #interview-anonymous.
