By Vestnik Kavkaza
Reports of attacks on ethnic grounds in the east of Ukraine have become a subject of serious concern of the UN, the representative of the Secretary General of the organization Stephane Dujarric stated, commenting on information from Mariupol about oppression of the Russian-speaking population, including ethnic cleansing and rape abuses. Meanwhile, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini stated in an interview to Kurier that the EU expected respect for the culture and language of people, autonomous status for the east of the country, and carrying out institutional reforms from Kiev. Speaking about the problem of refugees from Donbas, Mogherini said humanitarian aid plays a key role in the issue.
However, it is too early to conclude that Western politicians have begun to realize what is really going on in Ukraine.
Alexei Mukhin, the Director General of the Center for Political Information, thinks that “Ukraine and the countries which are now using the Ukrainian crisis are living in a strange world. The world differs from the real one through false images.”
According to Mukhin, the chaos in Ukraine has touched on most of spheres of the country and society’s life, putting the clock back: “A delegitimizing of power is going on (it occurred due to the state overthrow), a criminalization of society, elimination of normal, legal power, nationalistic radicals and Nazis came to power at all levels – from the federal to the regional. Previously, the specter of Communism was haunting Europe; today the specter of Nazism is haunting Ukraine. It would be alright if institutions really worked in Ukraine. But the institutions aren't working there, and power is focused in the hands of a person with a gun.”
Mukhin presents a gradation of armed people: “There are people who took up arms to steal. There are people who want to redistribute property; there are people who protect their homes and lives. Ukraine has finally turned into the Wild Fields, returning to the situation before 1917. The same processes which took place 100 years ago are going on there today. Ukrainian society goes around in a circle and has to rely on foreign forms of support – financial, military, political ones, rather than internal forces. The Kiev authorities have neither the opportunities nor the desire to consolidate the state today and preserve it as a united country.”
Mukhin is sure that partners are turning away from Ukraine, and the process will continue: “It would be inconvenient to work with it today. European companies withdraw from Ukraine; American companies have serious difficulties and the situation will go on.”
The expert is sure that the Maidan achieved the opposite goals to those intended, while its name has turned into a brand which is used for dark purposes: “The Maidan was presented to us as an anti-oligarchic revolution. The goal was not achieved absolutely. Oligarchs came to office. They are ready for redistribution of properties. Moreover, in Ukrainian regions oligarchs who are damaging the Ukrainian state came to power… And the so-called “friends of Ukraine” – Poland, Hungary, Romania – have ended up in a very strange situation. They all have territorial claims to the weak, collapsing state. The Maidan is turning into a trade name, a brand. In the Maidan’s name awful things are being committed; but still it is demanded. Field commanders are visiting the USA, asking for money, military support, and so on, selling the brand. Whether they will be successful or not, we’ll see. I hope that the EU and the USA will have enough common sense.”
