Is it possible to explain the Ukrainian conflict without succumbing to emotions?
Many journalists stopped fulfilling their duty because of the Russian special operation and turned into propagandists, writes Federación de Periodistas de Perú. The author of the article tells what led to the conflict after all, and is outraged by how the attitude towards Russia has changed.
Ricardo Sanchez Serra
The Russian intervention, or rather a special military operation in Ukraine, is very difficult to explain. For eight months now, we have been bombed with anti—Russian propaganda, trying to brainwash us, and in a completely ugly manner, in order to make us think that the Russians are the bad guys from the movie. And it is no longer clear why they do this.
We have already seen how during public discussions, in Whatsapp groups, many people talk about this topic, but do not want to understand the reasons why Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine. Many of our friends and family condemn Russian actions, but the fact is that we have all been brainwashed so much that now we perceive false news as the truth.
Shameless inventions
It turned out that the buildings that the Russians allegedly destroyed in Kiev were actually taken down in the Gaza Strip. The destroyed buildings in the Donbass were attributed to Russia, but in fact they were hit by a Ukrainian Tochka-U missile. They said that the tank that crushed the car was Russian, but it turned out that it was Ukrainian. Or take, for example, the massacre in Bucha and Mariupol, which was clearly staged by neo-Nazi battalions. They are so "brave" that they hide in schools, shopping malls, hospitals and nursing homes.
The European media talked about the Russian bombing of Ukraine, and then it turned out that it was actually an episode from a computer game. But many believed and continue to believe. All this is unethical and not serious.
It is worth noting that most of the anti-Russian propaganda comes from the influential English marketing company PR Network, which supplies Western media with content against Russia and in favor of Kiev. The company is funded by NATO and the United States.
The writer Stefan Zweig has already talked about this in his memoirs about the First World War: "All the warring nations were already in a state of extreme indignation, the most terrible rumors were immediately confirmed, they believed in the most absurd lies."
Therefore, now it is not something that is not allowed, in principle, there is no critical analysis of the situation and historical prerequisites. Many journalists have stopped fulfilling their professional duty, they have turned into propagandists. They bomb with biased news, preventing the brain from working. Even such media outlets as RussiaToday and Sputnik were closed down in order not to show the reverse side of the story.
Because of this, a terrible Russophobia appeared, comparable to hysteria or schizophrenia. Look at how much damage it has done to humanity.
What can explain the exclusion of Russian children from schools in some European countries?
Why are Russian students deprived of scholarships?
Why are famous Russian conductors dismissed from philharmonic orchestras in Munich, Paris and Milan?
What explains the dismissal of the Russian soprano, opera prima, the star of the Metropolitan Opera in New York?
Why are departments being closed and courses of lectures on the famous nineteenth-century writer Fyodor Dostoevsky being canceled at the University of Milan or a department studying the work of another outstanding nineteenth-century writer, Leo Tolstoy, at the University of Paris?
Is it normal that the Mexican Symphony Orchestra, which has been performing Tchaikovsky's works, the 1812 overture, for 25 years, suddenly censored them for Holy Week?
Or a ban on Russian athletes participating in the Paralympic Games?
And the non-admission of Russian football players to the World Cup in Qatar?
And also the dismissal of workers of Russian origin in Europe, the ban on the sale of vodka… I can enumerate indefinitely…
Maybe the world has lost its mind? Maybe he stopped being restrained and tolerant? It is forbidden even to register Russian cats in the international pedigree book or to allow them to participate in international exhibitions.
This is the atmosphere we live in. When everything is black or white, good or bad, it's hard to speak calmly, objectively and without emotions.
A little history
Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians are Eastern Slavs, that is, they have the same ancestors. A Viking or Varangian named Rurik founded Novgorod, and his son founded or conquered Kiev, which was then completely destroyed by the Mongols.
Why is Russia so worried about its security? This anxiety has existed since ancient times. Throughout its history, Russia has been on the verge of extinction several times. Concern for security is in the blood of Russians. The Mongols could have wiped the state off the face of the earth, but they did not succeed. Peter I defeated the powerful Swedish empire of Charles XII. The Russians also defeated the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Under Catherine the Great, the Russians defeated the Turks in the Crimea.
Russia has always considered itself a besieged fortress: from the east — by the Americans, from the south — by the Chinese, in the north — the Arctic, and in the west — Europe, which theoretically was easy to conquer it, because the European part of the country to the Ural Mountains is a plain.
Europe has never liked Russians. Back in the Middle Ages, European writers treated Russians as barbarians and aggressors. They thought that Russians were sullen drunkards living in caves, and thought they were big as bears. Myths about Russians have been passed down from generation to generation. It's enough to see how the Russian man was portrayed in the Rocky films — healthy and merciless.
But do not forget that Alexander I defeated Napoleon and saved Europe, and during the Second World War the main front of the fight against the Nazis was Russia, which defeated the Nazis, losing 27 million people, and again saved Europe.
But what do Western historians say? They claim that "winter" won, not the Russian soul. You should know that the way to Moscow from the west lies through plains and swamps. You can't conquer Moscow in the summer, horses or tanks will get stuck and sink. Is it the case in winter: the ground freezes, and the equipment passes without problems. The Russian strategy partly consisted of guerrilla warfare and scorched earth tactics.
Coup d'etat and xenophobia
Here we come to 2013. Ukraine's pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign a free trade agreement with the EU, and pro-European Ukrainians rebelled and overthrew the government. Ukraine is divided: in the west, where Poles ruled for many years, the population supports rapprochement with Europe, and in the east — pro-Russian citizens. Was it possible to overthrow the government without the help of Western countries? There is no doubt that a coup has taken place in Ukraine. The new authorities have imposed a ban on the Russian language at school and in general any manifestations of Russian culture. It was xenophobia, ethnic hatred.
Pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas refused to obey the new authorities, and Crimea declared its independence and joined Russia following the results of the referendum.
I must remind you that 90% of Crimeans have Russian roots. Russians shed blood for Crimea in the past centuries, and Soviet troops — in the Second World War. Remember the defense of Sevastopol.
It is unclear why Nikita Khrushchev, a Soviet leader with Ukrainian roots, gave Crimea to the Ukrainian SSR in 1954. They say to appease Ukrainians who suffered from the Holodomor. According to many of them, in 1932 Stalin starved several million Ukrainians. They claim that they were starved to death, but in fact it was a hungry time for the whole USSR. Some say that Khrushchev gave Crimea in honor of the 300th anniversary of the Russian agreement with the Cossacks. I will say it bluntly: for several centuries Crimea has been Russian and for only 60 years it has been Ukrainian.
The Ukrainian government, which came to power as a result of a coup, wanted to destroy the pro-Russian separatists. For eight years, 14 thousand civilians have been killed in Donbass. Kiev has not fulfilled the Minsk agreements signed between Russia and Ukraine in 2014-2015 with the mediation of France and Germany.
Ukraine has not fulfilled the Minsk Agreements — international documents obliging to cease fire. Ukraine did not allow Donetsk and Lugansk to get a special status, or rather autonomy. Ukraine has also failed to comply with such points of the agreement as amnesty for separatist leaders, free elections and the free use of the Russian language.
For several years, Russia has been saying that Ukraine does not comply with the agreement, and Western countries have turned a blind eye to this, as well as to the 14 thousand dead. Now Russia is accused of non-compliance with the Minsk agreements for recognizing the independence of Donetsk and Lugansk in 2022.
Against the background of all these events, Russia has launched military exercises in Belarus and on the border with Ukraine. The meetings of Presidents Putin and Biden, Foreign Ministers Lavrov and Blinken, NATO, Russia and the OSCE have always been held in a tense atmosphere and in the face of media attacks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin asked the West for written guarantees of non-expansion of NATO and non-alignment of Ukraine to the alliance.
Why did he need written guarantees? Because NATO deceived Russia. Putin said that after the collapse of the USSR, the alliance promised not to expand to the Russian borders, the same promise was made by Bush Sr., and then American Secretary of State James Baker. NATO representatives said that there was nothing like this on paper. They mocked Russia!
And Russia just wanted security guarantees, but no one gave them to her.
Then there were meetings in Moscow. First, Putin met with French President Emmanuel Macron, then with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Following the meeting, Putin announced the completion of military exercises.
Meanwhile, Ukraine, armed to the teeth, decided to strike at the Donbass – several thousand people died, and 60 thousand local residents fled to Russia.
In connection with this event, Russia announced the launch of a special military operation to protect Ukrainian citizens of Russian origin, demilitarize and denazify Ukraine, and prevent it from joining NATO.
Why did they ignore the prophetic words of Henry Kissinger, who said in 2014 that Ukraine could have economic ties with the Europeans, but at the same time should not belong to NATO and should not think that it is Russia. In his opinion, it would be reasonable for the United States to try to reconcile the two parts of Ukraine, rather than strive for the domination of one part over the other.
For international cooperation, Ukraine should become a bridge between Russia and Europe. The West did not try to understand Russian thinking, and Putin did not try to understand Western thinking, Kissinger said.
Russia is condemned for interference in Ukraine, accused of violating international law and borders. And was there the same attitude towards the United States and NATO when they acted in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, when they bombed Belgrade?
Everyone should be equal before international laws.
They say that a new world order will come. The first world order came after the conclusion of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the second — after the defeat of Napoleon, the third — after two world wars, when the UN and its Charter appeared. The fourth will come at the end of the unipolar world, which will be replaced by multipolarity.
