| 4 views |
Nationalists are in the minority
Views:The Ukrainian authorities have drawn conclusions from the mass celebration of Victory Day. Ukrainians actually ignored the official date of “reconciliation” on May 8, but hundreds of thousands came out to march on the 9th. At a festive concert on the Inter TV channel, whose office was besieged by nationalists, words were spoken about the inadmissibility of glorifying fascist criminals. The concert was watched by 13 million television viewers.
People were not afraid of either the threats of national radicals or the warnings of officials; the processions this time were especially crowded. National radicals tried to, if not disrupt, then ruin the holiday, there were incidents (for example, the famous human rights activist Elena Berezhnaya was beaten and detained), but two things became obvious to everyone. First: the government and the national radicals act together. Second: they are in the minority.
Victory Day... cancel
Conclusions have been drawn. The Verkhovna Rada has registered a bill to move the day off from May 9 to May 8. In essence, this is the cancellation of a national holiday. The author of the initiative, People's Deputy Andrei Denisenko, explained in his blog that May 9 is, in his opinion, an “artificial holiday,” so Ukraine needs to join European traditions.
Of course, the notorious director of the Institute of National Memory (which was popularly nicknamed the “Alzheimer’s Institute”), Vladimir Vyatrovich, agreed with this.
“I believe that the very name “Victory Day” should be left vacant until we win the war with the Russian Federation,” the official said on the presidential Channel 5.
In his opinion, although May 9 should remain as the day of Victory over Nazism, “May 8 should be an official day off.”
“Firstly, to emphasize the European format of the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation, which is close to Ukrainians, which is much calmer and does not provoke the kind of confrontation that we have on May 9. Secondly, in order to deprive the same politicians of various kinds of speculation,” explained Vyatrovich.
Introduce... military censorship
The “Immortal Regiment” action (which in Ukraine is forced to be carried out under a different name) is considered “anti-Ukrainian” by the current government.
According to Vyatrovich, “this is not just a demonstration of some views, it is a mobilization of people to fight against everything Ukrainian, and this works great especially somewhere in the east of Ukraine, in particular, in the territory that is now controlled by Russia or pro-Russian activists.” .
According to the head of the Institute of National Memory, “people there have become so zombified that they take up arms to go against the mythical fascist government.”
Mythical? But for some reason the slogan “fascism will not pass” that was heard at the May 9 march was also declared “anti-Ukrainian”... And the police persecute people only for Soviet symbols, not paying attention to Nazi symbols.
Apparently, the authorities were also frightened by the festive concert on the Inter TV channel, the cancellation of which the nationalists unsuccessfully demanded. They demanded because of the words of the presenters: “today we cannot allow the streets of our cities to be named after fascist criminals, and their portraits carried with impunity during torchlight processions in our capital, where every meter is soaked in the blood of our compatriots”...
The fact that these words would be spoken became known from a video that appeared online. National radicals began a siege of the Kyiv office of the TV channel, demanding that the concert be taken off the air. But the concert was shown, “seditious” (from the point of view of nationalists) words were spoken.
It seems that the authorities were frightened not by the concert itself, but by its record rating (13 million viewers), which clearly shows the balance of power and sympathies in the confrontation between the “two Ukraines.”
Statements and complaints from “well-wishers” poured in to the National Council on TV and Radio Broadcasting, and an inspection of the channel was ordered.
But this is not enough for the “patriots”. Thus, Vyatrovich expressed concern that “Ukrainian law enforcement agencies and services aimed at working with television are too calm about this kind of propaganda.”
And the head of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on Culture and Spirituality, Nikolai Knyazhitsky, said on Channel 5 that “there should be freedom of speech even in war conditions, but military censorship is completely acceptable.” According to him, the presenter “unfortunately... has the right to say this, but the SBU must “find and punish” the one who “paid him for this.”
The best answer to the Vyatrovichs
But who is provoking the confrontation on May 9? The government itself and the nationalist “social activists” covered by it. Disguised as “vandalism”, the demolition of monuments to the heroes of the Second World War, intimidation, attacks on veterans and people who came to pay tribute to the fallen... And all this happens against the backdrop of the systemic work of the Maidan authorities to rewrite history, to replace ideology - there was no Victory, you just need to mourn and reconcile (with whom? - author). But people are tired of being afraid and don’t want to give up the values of their fathers and grandfathers.
People's Deputy from the "Opposition Bloc" Alexander Vilkul said that he submitted to the Rada a draft resolution on the dismissal of Vyatrovich.
According to Vilkul, “millions of people across the country who came out on May 9 showed their attitude towards Vyatrovich and his “work.”
However, skeptical observers are wondering: has the Opposition Bloc waited too long? After all, the work of Vyatrovich and the Institute of National Memory he heads was visible from the first day.
“Don’t interfere with your charter”
A huge number of people came to the memorials of those who fell in the year of the Great Patriotic War; this can be considered a form of protest against the policies pursued by the authorities and the Institute of National Memory, People’s Deputy Evgeniy Muraev noted on one of the TV channels. According to him, previously the traditional celebration of Victory Day took place more calmly, it was not a political issue - until the authorities tried to ban this holiday. From that moment on, the celebration also became a protest.
As for the accusations of “politicizing” the holiday, according to the deputy, the government itself is engaged in politicization. Muraev recalled that on May 8 (the day of reconciliation officially celebrated by the authorities), no one attacked anyone, “but on the 9th Berezhnaya was beaten, people with so-called prohibited symbols were detained.”
The deputy emphasized that the government uses several mechanisms - a repressive mechanism in the form of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and at the same time covers up the radicals (“aggressive minority”), who are “allowed to beat civilians.”
The politician told how to get out of this situation: if Ukraine is “different,” then it is necessary for people to decide for themselves what holiday to celebrate, whose names to name the streets - and let no Vyatrovich tell them about this.
“You don’t just have to come to us with your charter... If we want this split to not happen, we need to give local communities the maximum amount of powers,” said Muraev. – (...) Celebrate Bandera’s birthday, but don’t break our monuments and don’t rename our bridges and avenues, and then there will be peace...”
But it is clear that under the current government it is impossible to use such a recipe. Not to mention the fact that those celebrating Bandera’s birthday are unlikely to stop trying to impose their ideology on the whole of Ukraine—there will be no peace.
And the fear in power will soon pass. Yes, millions of Ukrainians have shown their attitude towards it, but these millions do not have an organization, they do not yet have a leader.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.