‘As someone who stood in Independence Square in Kyiv, voice raised in anger at the corruption and abuse of power of the government, I can tell you that this was a wholly Ukrainian revolution’ — the author on the unconstitutional coup of 2014.
Well, if it was against “corruption and abuse of power” then why the first thing the forces which came to power did was pass the law to strip Russian of its status of a state language? Was it the cause of corruption? It was done though the vast majority of the Ukrainian population spoke Russian at least at home — up to 88% according to some sources. Toppling the then president Viktor Yanukovich was done completely outside the legal framework: he was legitimate president, unconditionally recognised as such abroad, particularly in the West.
The “democratic” government, much honoured by the author, which seized power, then went on to suspend activities of almost a dozen opposition parties, close media outlets, murder intractable journalists and persecute Orthodox Christians.
This was done under the collective West’s blind eye or rather with its support: back in 2014, US’ Victoria Nuland admitted on CNN that after the collapse of the USSR, Washington spent $5bn on “supporting the aspirations of the Ukrainian people for a stronger democratic government”.
What was it, if not an unconstitutional coup, totally anti-Russian in its nature and financed from abroad?
The Crimeans did not put up with this situation and voted in favour of the peninsula’s return to Russia at the referendum on March 16 2014, almost unanimously, in the highest manifestation of democracy. Soon, on May 2 2014, Ukrainian Nazis in Odesa vividly demonstrated what would have happened in Crimea if they had only been allowed to, by burning more than 40 people alive in the Trade Unions’ House. What, they were involved in corruption or power abuse? No, they simply dared to stand against the Maidan values. It is a common practice in all democratic societies to burn people should they protest, isn’t it?
‘The violence Rogachev describes was the Ukrainian army defending against this stealth invasion’ — Romantsova. Let us give you an idea who Ukraine’s enemies in Donbass were before February 24 2022.
Kira Zhuk, 23, resident of the town of Gorlovka in the then Donetsk region of Ukraine, and her 10-month-old daughter, Kristina, who were strolling in a park and came under fire of Ukraine artillery (more than 20 civilians were killed that day as a result of indiscriminate shelling). Anya Kostenko, 2, who was killed by Ukraine’s strike with cluster munitions on a children’s beach in the town of Zugres, along with 12 other people. Natalya Gusak, 25, and he daughter Arina, 4, killed by Ukraine artillery shelling on the way to school.
There were people who were shot on Ukrainian-controlled territories by punitive squads as they attempted to leave for Russia. There were those who were killed by Ukrainian snipers on Donetsk/Lugansk side. There were people who stepped onto mines planted by Ukrainian military on forest paths and near water bodies. There were those who survived yet were forced to shelter in basements for years.
Romantsova conveniently omits that as a result of hostilities against Donbass unleashed by Kyiv regime some 14,000 civilians died, including hundreds of children. There’s a very special memorial place in Donetsk which is called the Alley of Angels, dedicated to children whose lives were taken by Ukrainian military.
And guess what? Defending these people from attacks by Nazi Kyiv regime is one of the main objectives of Russia’s special military operation.
These are the facts, but the author remains absolutely indifferent to them. She still believes it is enough to say the “magic” phrase about President Zelensky’s Jewish roots to “cancel” the facts of severe Russophobia, glorification of Nazism and that the Kyiv regime is attacking civilians, including women and children. Naturally, belonging to any nationality/ethnicity is not a protection from a devotion to one ideology or another. Your blood precludes you from becoming a Nazi — this “magic” is too simple, isn’t it? Among the leadership of the Third Reich were also people of Jewish origin, and it never prevented Nazis from committing atrocities throughout World War 2.
We were also confused to read that “Ukraine has never been seeking to join Nato ‘before Russia invaded”.
Kyiv expressed serious interest in joining the Nato alliance soon after the collapse of the USSR. After the very first Maidan in 2005 (the so-called ‘Orange Revolution’) Ukraine engaged in “intensive dialogue” format of interaction with Nato widely interpreted as the first real step towards Ukraine’s integration with the alliance. In 2008, when the presidents and prime ministers of Nato states met in Bucharest, the summit declared that Ukraine alongside Georgia would someday enter Nato.
Popular support for joining Nato in Ukraine could have been negligible even after that, but when did it ever stop Kyiv regime and its Western masters?
The process of aligning with Nato accelerated after the 2014 coup. The bloc started military exploitation of Ukraine territory. The country was pumped with weapons, Ukraine military was trained by Nato instructors according to Nato standards. Elements of Nato military infrastructure were deployed in Ukraine. The final stage of dragging Ukraine into Nato would be rejection of the country’s “non-bloc” status enshrined in Ukraine’s constitution.
Against this background, the author’s statement that “it is not Nato and not Western soldiers fighting in Ukraine, but ordinary Ukrainians” looks even more ridiculous. Nato countries have already allocated more than $100bn for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They continue to supply arms and ammunition to Kyiv regime and train Ukrainian military. They provide Ukrainians with intelligence and help plan their combat operations. “If we don't support Ukraine, Ukraine will fall in a matter of days,” said Josep Borrell. Thousands of mercenaries from Nato countries participate in warfare on Ukrainian side, many of them until recently were regular military personnel.
‘Every day Russia’s forces bombard our cities, killing civilians and destroying our infrastructure,’ claims Romantsova. Unsurprisingly, this statement is all lies too.
As a matter of fact, Ukrainian prisoners-of-war many times admitted at interrogations that none else but Nato instructors had recommended that they to resort to human shield tactics. There are plenty of photos of trenches dug by Ukrainian soldiers in thevicinity of apartment blocks, Ukrainian heavy artillery and tanks deployed next to residential buildings, Ukrainian troops stationed in schools and kindergartens, or machine-gun nests arranged by Ukrainians in the upper floors of multi-storeyed houses. Hadn’t anyone explained them that according to the international humanitarian law, civilian facilities used for military purposes during warfare become legal targets for the armed forces of the opposing side?
Obviously, the above-mentioned materials posted in Western media and intended to show “heroism of the armed forces of Ukraine defending their cities” would perfectly serve as photo evidence of Ukraine war crimes at a future trial.
Unfortunately, military action always results in human costs. According to the UN Human Rights Office data, more than 8,000 civilians have been recorded killed in Ukraine since February 2022. Ukrainian propaganda tries to sell it as a result of alleged Russian strikes against civilians.
We emphasise that in our opinion each human life is priceless, and we share the grief of those affected by the armed conflict. Yet to illustrate what the outcome of deliberate attacks on civil infrastructure may be, here’s an example: about 1-million civilians fell victims of the US invasion of Iraq. Ask yourselves: if Russian army really targeted civilians in Ukraine would this number be 8,000?
The truth is that 8,000 Ukrainians fell victims of the above-mentioned criminal human shield tactics of Kyiv regime. Let me reiterate that President Zelensky himself said that it would be much more difficult to defend cities with no civilians in them.
We believe this practice to be one of the reasons Ukraine’s authorities unleashed a propaganda campaign to smear Russia’s actions to evacuate civilians from unsafe territories and areas where active hostilities take place. Here’s what the author claims: “The return of Ukrainian citizens forcibly deported to Russia — let these innocent people return to their families.”
Russia is not moving anyone out by force, rather millions of refugees are escaping Ukrainian shelling and bombing, with significant part of them fleeing to Russia. Most of the evacuated children arrive in Russia with their families, accompanied by either parents or guardians and custodians. They are accommodated in temporary facilities, or whenever possible, rented housing.
“Commit to the long-term renewal of the Black Sea Grain Initiative — the deal that allows the safe export of grain from Ukraine, vital for the food security of the entire world.”
Another lie and a portion of hypocrisy. Facts suggest otherwise: the grain deal is being used to boost Ukraine’s commercial exports. As of May 4 2023, 40% of all products that have been exported via the humanitarian sea corridor, went to the EU states. The share of poorest countries in this turnover does not reach even 3%.
What would truly help relieve the world food crisis, are Russian agricultural supplies which remain restrained by Western illegal sanctions. The Russian Agricultural Bank is disconnected from SWIFT, several key Russian companies’ assets in foreign banks are frozen, ammonia pipeline ‘Tolyatti-Odesa’ (yearly transported 2.5-million tonnes of commodities for fertilisers) is blocked. While the West hypocritically claims its discriminative restrictions have nothing to do with the agricultural sector.
In conclusion, we would like to comment on the author’s statement that “President Putin is the only person who can end the war”.
First, Russia remains open to dialogue with Kyiv without any preconditions. It was President Zelensky who legally banned any negotiations with the Russian side by his own decree dated September 30 2022. Second, let us not forget that Zelensky’s regime is not independent. The hostilities could have stopped back in April 2022, but Western masterminds of the conflict didn’t allow that. The West claims openly that in Ukraine it wages a proxy war against Russia and will continue doing so. US Senantor Lindsey Graham said: “I like the structural path we’re on here. As long as we help Ukraine with the weapons they need and the economic support they will fight to the last person.”
We abandoned illusions about the true intentions of the West with regard to our country long ago. Isn’t it time for Ukrainians to do the same?
Ilya Rogachev is the Ambassador of Russia to South Africa
RIGHT OF REPLY | Russian embassy responds to Ukraine’s Oleksandra Romantsova
The April article is full of pretentious statements and features Western clichés regarding the situation in Ukraine
Image: Reuters//Maxim Shemetov
We were surprised and confused as we familiarised ourselves with the article published on TimesLIVE on April 24 2023. Oleksandra Romantsova, the executive director of the Centre for Civil Liberties in Ukraine, is indicated as its author.
From our point of view, this piece, like a majority of others spread by Ukrainian and Western propaganda outlets, serves a single purpose: to provide the readership with a terrifying picture of alleged Russia’s atrocities and provoke immediate emotional response. “Simply look at the picture we’re showing you and fear the horrible Russia, but be sure not to think about and analyse the context.”
Yet there were certain events which compelled Russia to undertake the well-known military steps, which of course aren’t in the slightest degree what Ukraine propaganda portrays them.
The article features a full set of Western clichés regarding the situation in this country — like calling Russia’s actions “unprovoked” and “unjustified” or repeating the same laughable story that “Russia attacked Ukraine because it’s afraid of democracy”. Then, the author simply lies while speaking of the events preceding the special military operation. Let us explain the distinguished audience what in reality hides behind the pretentious statements by O Romantsova.
‘As someone who stood in Independence Square in Kyiv, voice raised in anger at the corruption and abuse of power of the government, I can tell you that this was a wholly Ukrainian revolution’ — the author on the unconstitutional coup of 2014.
Well, if it was against “corruption and abuse of power” then why the first thing the forces which came to power did was pass the law to strip Russian of its status of a state language? Was it the cause of corruption? It was done though the vast majority of the Ukrainian population spoke Russian at least at home — up to 88% according to some sources. Toppling the then president Viktor Yanukovich was done completely outside the legal framework: he was legitimate president, unconditionally recognised as such abroad, particularly in the West.
The “democratic” government, much honoured by the author, which seized power, then went on to suspend activities of almost a dozen opposition parties, close media outlets, murder intractable journalists and persecute Orthodox Christians.
This was done under the collective West’s blind eye or rather with its support: back in 2014, US’ Victoria Nuland admitted on CNN that after the collapse of the USSR, Washington spent $5bn on “supporting the aspirations of the Ukrainian people for a stronger democratic government”.
What was it, if not an unconstitutional coup, totally anti-Russian in its nature and financed from abroad?
The Crimeans did not put up with this situation and voted in favour of the peninsula’s return to Russia at the referendum on March 16 2014, almost unanimously, in the highest manifestation of democracy. Soon, on May 2 2014, Ukrainian Nazis in Odesa vividly demonstrated what would have happened in Crimea if they had only been allowed to, by burning more than 40 people alive in the Trade Unions’ House. What, they were involved in corruption or power abuse? No, they simply dared to stand against the Maidan values. It is a common practice in all democratic societies to burn people should they protest, isn’t it?
‘The violence Rogachev describes was the Ukrainian army defending against this stealth invasion’ — Romantsova. Let us give you an idea who Ukraine’s enemies in Donbass were before February 24 2022.
Kira Zhuk, 23, resident of the town of Gorlovka in the then Donetsk region of Ukraine, and her 10-month-old daughter, Kristina, who were strolling in a park and came under fire of Ukraine artillery (more than 20 civilians were killed that day as a result of indiscriminate shelling). Anya Kostenko, 2, who was killed by Ukraine’s strike with cluster munitions on a children’s beach in the town of Zugres, along with 12 other people. Natalya Gusak, 25, and he daughter Arina, 4, killed by Ukraine artillery shelling on the way to school.
There were people who were shot on Ukrainian-controlled territories by punitive squads as they attempted to leave for Russia. There were those who were killed by Ukrainian snipers on Donetsk/Lugansk side. There were people who stepped onto mines planted by Ukrainian military on forest paths and near water bodies. There were those who survived yet were forced to shelter in basements for years.
Romantsova conveniently omits that as a result of hostilities against Donbass unleashed by Kyiv regime some 14,000 civilians died, including hundreds of children. There’s a very special memorial place in Donetsk which is called the Alley of Angels, dedicated to children whose lives were taken by Ukrainian military.
And guess what? Defending these people from attacks by Nazi Kyiv regime is one of the main objectives of Russia’s special military operation.
These are the facts, but the author remains absolutely indifferent to them. She still believes it is enough to say the “magic” phrase about President Zelensky’s Jewish roots to “cancel” the facts of severe Russophobia, glorification of Nazism and that the Kyiv regime is attacking civilians, including women and children. Naturally, belonging to any nationality/ethnicity is not a protection from a devotion to one ideology or another. Your blood precludes you from becoming a Nazi — this “magic” is too simple, isn’t it? Among the leadership of the Third Reich were also people of Jewish origin, and it never prevented Nazis from committing atrocities throughout World War 2.
We were also confused to read that “Ukraine has never been seeking to join Nato ‘before Russia invaded”.
Kyiv expressed serious interest in joining the Nato alliance soon after the collapse of the USSR. After the very first Maidan in 2005 (the so-called ‘Orange Revolution’) Ukraine engaged in “intensive dialogue” format of interaction with Nato widely interpreted as the first real step towards Ukraine’s integration with the alliance. In 2008, when the presidents and prime ministers of Nato states met in Bucharest, the summit declared that Ukraine alongside Georgia would someday enter Nato.
Popular support for joining Nato in Ukraine could have been negligible even after that, but when did it ever stop Kyiv regime and its Western masters?
The process of aligning with Nato accelerated after the 2014 coup. The bloc started military exploitation of Ukraine territory. The country was pumped with weapons, Ukraine military was trained by Nato instructors according to Nato standards. Elements of Nato military infrastructure were deployed in Ukraine. The final stage of dragging Ukraine into Nato would be rejection of the country’s “non-bloc” status enshrined in Ukraine’s constitution.
Against this background, the author’s statement that “it is not Nato and not Western soldiers fighting in Ukraine, but ordinary Ukrainians” looks even more ridiculous. Nato countries have already allocated more than $100bn for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They continue to supply arms and ammunition to Kyiv regime and train Ukrainian military. They provide Ukrainians with intelligence and help plan their combat operations. “If we don't support Ukraine, Ukraine will fall in a matter of days,” said Josep Borrell. Thousands of mercenaries from Nato countries participate in warfare on Ukrainian side, many of them until recently were regular military personnel.
‘Every day Russia’s forces bombard our cities, killing civilians and destroying our infrastructure,’ claims Romantsova. Unsurprisingly, this statement is all lies too.
As a matter of fact, Ukrainian prisoners-of-war many times admitted at interrogations that none else but Nato instructors had recommended that they to resort to human shield tactics. There are plenty of photos of trenches dug by Ukrainian soldiers in thevicinity of apartment blocks, Ukrainian heavy artillery and tanks deployed next to residential buildings, Ukrainian troops stationed in schools and kindergartens, or machine-gun nests arranged by Ukrainians in the upper floors of multi-storeyed houses. Hadn’t anyone explained them that according to the international humanitarian law, civilian facilities used for military purposes during warfare become legal targets for the armed forces of the opposing side?
Obviously, the above-mentioned materials posted in Western media and intended to show “heroism of the armed forces of Ukraine defending their cities” would perfectly serve as photo evidence of Ukraine war crimes at a future trial.
Unfortunately, military action always results in human costs. According to the UN Human Rights Office data, more than 8,000 civilians have been recorded killed in Ukraine since February 2022. Ukrainian propaganda tries to sell it as a result of alleged Russian strikes against civilians.
We emphasise that in our opinion each human life is priceless, and we share the grief of those affected by the armed conflict. Yet to illustrate what the outcome of deliberate attacks on civil infrastructure may be, here’s an example: about 1-million civilians fell victims of the US invasion of Iraq. Ask yourselves: if Russian army really targeted civilians in Ukraine would this number be 8,000?
The truth is that 8,000 Ukrainians fell victims of the above-mentioned criminal human shield tactics of Kyiv regime. Let me reiterate that President Zelensky himself said that it would be much more difficult to defend cities with no civilians in them.
We believe this practice to be one of the reasons Ukraine’s authorities unleashed a propaganda campaign to smear Russia’s actions to evacuate civilians from unsafe territories and areas where active hostilities take place. Here’s what the author claims: “The return of Ukrainian citizens forcibly deported to Russia — let these innocent people return to their families.”
Russia is not moving anyone out by force, rather millions of refugees are escaping Ukrainian shelling and bombing, with significant part of them fleeing to Russia. Most of the evacuated children arrive in Russia with their families, accompanied by either parents or guardians and custodians. They are accommodated in temporary facilities, or whenever possible, rented housing.
“Commit to the long-term renewal of the Black Sea Grain Initiative — the deal that allows the safe export of grain from Ukraine, vital for the food security of the entire world.”
Another lie and a portion of hypocrisy. Facts suggest otherwise: the grain deal is being used to boost Ukraine’s commercial exports. As of May 4 2023, 40% of all products that have been exported via the humanitarian sea corridor, went to the EU states. The share of poorest countries in this turnover does not reach even 3%.
What would truly help relieve the world food crisis, are Russian agricultural supplies which remain restrained by Western illegal sanctions. The Russian Agricultural Bank is disconnected from SWIFT, several key Russian companies’ assets in foreign banks are frozen, ammonia pipeline ‘Tolyatti-Odesa’ (yearly transported 2.5-million tonnes of commodities for fertilisers) is blocked. While the West hypocritically claims its discriminative restrictions have nothing to do with the agricultural sector.
In conclusion, we would like to comment on the author’s statement that “President Putin is the only person who can end the war”.
First, Russia remains open to dialogue with Kyiv without any preconditions. It was President Zelensky who legally banned any negotiations with the Russian side by his own decree dated September 30 2022. Second, let us not forget that Zelensky’s regime is not independent. The hostilities could have stopped back in April 2022, but Western masterminds of the conflict didn’t allow that. The West claims openly that in Ukraine it wages a proxy war against Russia and will continue doing so. US Senantor Lindsey Graham said: “I like the structural path we’re on here. As long as we help Ukraine with the weapons they need and the economic support they will fight to the last person.”
We abandoned illusions about the true intentions of the West with regard to our country long ago. Isn’t it time for Ukrainians to do the same?
Ilya Rogachev is the Ambassador of Russia to South Africa
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