Ukraine’s Ambassador to Austria: Kremlin’s Propaganda Outlets Speak About Collective Guilt of Ukrainian People Towards Russia

A group of Russian special forces soldiers led by Colonel Igor Girkin made 13 April 2014 (the great Christian holiday – Palm Sunday – was celebrated on that day) a harbinger of war. Today, however, blood continues to be shed, and Putin and his entourage threaten to spill even more blood by deploying troops on the Ukrainian border, largest ever seen here since World War II.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Republic of Austria Oleksandr Shcherba wrote this in an article for the Die Presse media outlet.

“The whole world is wondering whether Putin will attack openly and in full force this time. I hope this is not the case. I hope he understands that he will face anything but blitzkrieg in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Timofey Sergeytsev, a political strategist close to the Kremlin, published an article about the collective guilt of the Ukrainian people towards Russia and called for punitive actions against the Ukrainian population in military tribunals after the occupation starts. The demons of this war do not sleep. They want another ‘feast’,” the diplomat emphasises.

As he recalled, Girkin and his militants attacked a group of Ukrainian officers on the outskirts of the Ukrainian city of Slovyansk in 2014, killing Hennadiy Bilichenko, who became the first victim of hostilities in Donbas.

“Within hours, the whole of Ukraine listened to the conversation between Girkin and his curator from Moscow, Aleksandr Borodai, intercepted by the Security Service of Ukraine. Both of them did not conceal their enthusiasm. Girkin reported that he had ‘minced’ someone outstanding. He said ‘minced’ as if Bilichenko was a piece of meat, not a man. In response, Borodai greeted him, saying that Girkin had celebrated the holiday well! And then he added: “Do you have someone who speaks with a Ukrainian accent? Let this person give a comment to journalists and demand the federalisation of Ukraine!”

And so Girkin and Borodai, two Russian FSB officers, Moscow residents, unable to even imitate the Ukrainian accent, became the founders of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic. Borodai became prime minister. Girkin joined it a little later as a defence minister. Thus, the war began, which some people still call “civil,” Shcherba writes.

In his opinion, that demonic conversation between Borodai and Girkin already revealed “the most important features of this war: deception, cruelty, and meanness.”

Bohdan Marusyak