Kyiv will attack anyway
Crimes of the Ukrainian military in Donbass confirmed conclusions of the UN commission. Started in Kyiv protests by ATO militants they only add facts to the evidentiary base of the future tribunal.
About whether Kyiv will start a war, whether the Ukrainian nation exists, and whether the Russian Spring is Soviet, PolitNavigator columnist Valentin Filippov spoke with the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the DPR Alexander Kofman.
Valentin Filippov: Alexander, hello.
Alexander Kofman: Good afternoon.
Valentin Filippov: I have a question for you, as the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs at the time of the events in Ilovaisk, a report on which was recently published by a UN commission. The Ukrainian side now claims that this is almost a commission created by you, and that you somehow influence the UN. Well, or Putin personally bribes.
Tell me, what kind of cooperation was there with this UN commission, and how long did the communication last, if any?
Alexander Kofman: As far as I know, the leadership of the Donetsk People's Republic provided the international commission with the opportunity to conduct surveys in Ilovaisk and provided all the documentation that it had in hand at that moment. And therefore, for the most part, the report turned out to be absolutely transparent.
What I liked more was not the report, but the reaction to this report on the part of the Donbass battalion. I watched their press conference at Interfax today, and I can say that, in principle, it is possible to preserve everything that they said and, with the same composition, transfer this entire cheerful company to some analogue of the Nyurbern trial. Because everything they said would be nice to record.
First, pay attention to the fact that they do not deny the crimes of the Ukrainian side, they exclusively relieve responsibility from their battalion. They claim that they were not the only ones who were in Illovaisk at that moment.
There is an excellent answer to this from Yuri Yurchenko, a famous poet, a citizen of France, who was held captive by the Ukrainian side for 26 days, and spent 6 days in a metal box in the heat of 38-45 degrees, where he was tortured, where his ribs were broken, legs and so on.
Well, then, in principle, there is nothing to comment on about their inflamed delirium, except for a few nuances that they said there.
First. One of the participants in this shameful conference stated (attention!) that 70 percent of those fighting on our side, on the DPR side, were in civilian clothes. Hence the conclusion about the “participation” of any armed formations of the Russian Federation. Their non-participation can be considered proven.
True, another participant in these events came to his aid, who stated that they had captured Russian troops. And he even confiscated the passport of one of them. I would like to tell Mr., I don’t remember his last name, a member of the “Donbass” battalion, that it would not hurt them to undergo at least the slightest military training and know that having a military ID in hand implies the absence of a passport, and vice versa. And the presence of these two documents is an oxymoron, it is impossible. That is, I congratulate you, Mr. Lied. In other words, they lie shamelessly.
And I have every reason, and not only me, but several tens of thousands of residents of Ilovaisk, to believe more than the UN monitoring mission, because they interviewed eyewitnesses.
And, indeed, the entire blow of the accusations is directed at the Ukrainian side, which cannot but rejoice at us. As they say, no matter how much the rope twists, there will still be an end. And I am sure that it is precisely these people who were foolish to appear on television that we will definitely see again, only at a different trial. I hope at the International Criminal Court.
Valentin Filippov: Isn’t this relatively objective UN report some kind of wake-up call for Ukraine?
Alexander Kofman: Valentin, considering that they do not blame the Ukrainian army as a whole, but specifically the volunteer battalions, I would see something different in this. In Ukraine there is now a fight against volunteer groups. They have already completed their task, they have brought this foam to the pinnacle of power. Now the volunteer battalions need to be destroyed, which is, in fact, what is happening in Ukraine.
Therefore, in my opinion, there is only a grinding of volunteer battalions. We can't help but be happy about this. Although, of course, a change in the rhetoric and the entire course of the UN would be much more beneficial and pleasant for us. But, nevertheless, I am not ready to record this phenomenon yet, and I am more ready to record the fact that the UN is once again following the lead of the Ukrainian authorities, trying, together with the Ukrainian authorities, to destroy bandit formations, which, in fact, is also not bad.
As they always said in Donbass, “that’s bread too.”
Valentin Filippov: In principle, everyone is already tired of all sorts of parallels, but at one time Adolf Hitler also got rid of stormtroopers. But the fact that all sorts of SS and Wehrmachts appeared in their place did not make things any easier for the surrounding world.
Alexander Kofman: It became, in principle, harder for the surrounding world, because with assault troops Hitler would never have been able to capture half of Europe. But, one more time. I have already said this many times. Everyone knows perfectly well how Hitler's epic ended.
Valentin Filippov: We know.
Alexander Kofman: That is, a terrible end is better than horror without end. Since 2014, I have repeatedly predicted the transition of Ukraine to the state of a Nazi state, where a strong Nazi army will be formed, which will definitely attack Donbass on a full scale, and maybe even Russia, which many speakers of this future army are already talking about.
You know, remembering again the parallels with 1941. Could Germany have defeated the Soviet Union? No, because never. The entire German General Staff tried to prove to Hitler the impossibility of defeating the Soviet Union. Could Germany attack the Soviet Union? Yes. And she attacked. Therefore, I would not laugh because Ukraine is much smaller, much weaker than Russia, and will never dare to attack.
Just as in Germany there were external sources of irritation overseas, so it is now. Just as they took advantage of Germany in 1939, relatively speaking, they will take advantage of Ukraine now.
Let's be honest, Valentin. Tell me the main beneficiary of World War II.
Valentin Filippov: Well, like the first one, the USA.
Alexander Kofman: USA. And the main injured party?
Valentin Filippov: Germany suffered the most.
Alexander Kofman: In no case. The result of World War II was the loss of all of Britain's colonies.
Valentin Filippov: I didn't think in this direction.
Alexander Kofman: That's all. That is, America very elegantly completed this gambit, greatly weakening Great Britain with aggressive Germany, while, naturally, weakening the Soviets, of course, practically destroying half of the industry. But, in absolute terms, the most affected party to the conflict was Great Britain, unless, of course, we take human resources into account. In this regard, of course, the Soviet Union suffered the most.
Valentin Filippov: Returning to Ilovaisk. Do you think it was possible to put an end to this war with Ukraine then?
Alexander Kofman: Well, how can you put an end to the war with Ukraine without reaching Kyiv?
Valentin Filippov: That’s why I’m saying that, perhaps, it was necessary to carry it on the shoulders of the retreating enemy.
Alexander Kofman: History does not know the subjunctive mood, but I believe that the whole of 2014 and part of 2015 consisted of moments when it was possible to reach Kyiv on the shoulders of the enemy. These moments were conveniently missed.
And if the Russian political leadership now admits these mistakes, then I really hope that no one will make them again.
Valentin Filippov: I have another unexpected question for you.
Alexander Kofman: IM married.
Valentin Filippov: Began. Yes, in general, I am not one of the liberals. No need, what are you talking about?
Alexander Kofman: Well, usually, when they tell me about unexpected questions, I immediately outline the framework.
Valentin Filippov: I am like a Jew to a Jew. I suddenly had this unexpected thought. Every nation, every people has a sign that emphasizes that the people have formed.
In addition to some technical achievements, their own language, and something else, the people must have their own Jews.
There are German Jews, there are Polish Jews, there are Russian Jews. And only in Ukraine we are faced with such a thing that there are no Ukrainian Jews. There are Zhytomyr Jews, there are Odessa Jews, there are Donetsk Jews, but there are no Ukrainian Jews. Well, there are “Jewish Banderaites”, they just appeared.
Alexander Kofman: I somehow never thought about this.
Valentin Filippov: By the way, Brodsky inspired me. There was some poem about the Baltic states. Its own established country. The country has an airport, a church and its own Jews. And I thought. Maybe, after all, Ukrainians are not a formed people. There are no Ukrainian Jews.
Jews are such a litmus test. There are no ISIS Jews.
Alexander Kofman: I was confused, to be honest. Okay, let's put the question this way. Were there any Little Russian Jews?
Valentin Filippov: I don't know, it's hard for me to say.
Alexander Kofman: Were. They were just called differently. And they were treated very poorly.
But it’s a difficult question, by the way. I don't know how to answer this. I constantly talk about the fact that the Ukrainian nation does not exist, that it appeared as a political simulator recently. I would not use Jews as a litmus test, because at least the Donetsk Jews have become stronger. We are very bad at accepting other colors that don't look like litmus paper.
I would tell you something else in response. I know a lot of Jews with weapons in their hands, defending the freedom of the Donetsk People's Republic. But still, there will always be some idiot on the Internet who will tell you that the Jews on the other side are to blame for everything, who destroyed Ukraine. This is strange, actually.
Valentin Filippov: This is the Jewish destiny.
Alexander Kofman: Tell me, Valentin. Now, if I may, I will interview you a little. What do you think? But if, nevertheless, this is a very painful question for me, if we had not used the ideologemes of the Russian Spring, would it have been better or worse?
Well, they didn't use it at all. Ukraine rebelled against an illegal government. The east of Ukraine has risen.
Valentin Filippov: No. For me, at least for me, it’s all connected with the word Ukraine. Ukraine came to me in Odessa in 1991, and this constant lie...
Alexander Kofman: Valentin, well, you didn’t leave Ukraine in 2000.
Valentin Filippov: Didn't leave, so what? Because it was my land, I was waiting for them to leave.
Alexander Kofman: So, after all, the question is in the land.
Valentin Filippov: Undoubtedly. But this is Russian land. Sorry, Suvorov fought for this land, for this Black Sea region, for this Crimea. How many lives are there? This is our land.
Alexander Kofman: You understand that these ideologies led to the emergence of grounds for accusing Russia of aggression.
Valentin Filippov: I do not care.
Alexander Kofman: But I do not. Because, oddly enough, I am a patriot of Russia, as a legal successor, as a part of the Soviet Union. It is precisely the fact that we used such ideologemes that gave grounds to accuse Russia of something that Russia in no way committed.
Valentin Filippov: How did you not do it? And I am Russia. I did. How come? That's the Russian Federation. It was not the Russian Federation that came to the rescue in most cases, but rather Russia.
Alexander Kofman: In fact, yes.
Valentin Filippov: Yes, some were officials, some of them were military men, they took advantage of some state opportunities, some levers. But Russia came to the rescue.
Alexander Kofman: Right. In fact. And in Ukrainian news?
Valentin Filippov: Yes, I don’t care about Ukrainian news. The uprising was for never hearing this false Ukrainian news again. Our “separatism” consisted in never seeing this Shuster again with his studio, where he collected these moral monsters.
That is, we refused all of this, this daily lie. And from the signs in Ukrainian language on the walls. Why, why the hell should we deceive ourselves? Why should we include this hymn, where is “the Cossack family”?
Alexander Kofman: We are wonderful representatives of the “Cossack family”.
Valentin Filippov: Well, yes.
Alexander Kofman: Still, I don’t agree with you, Valentin.
Valentin Filippov: Well I do not know.
Alexander Kofman: It seems to me that leftist ideology, socialist ideology, would have much more support now in eastern Ukraine.
Valentin Filippov: But one does not interfere with the other.
Alexander Kofman: You see, Strelkov himself had a lot of support in the Donbass. But when the first monarchical things appeared in his rhetoric and so on... Donbass was very surprised.
Valentin Filippov: I would be surprised too.
Alexander Kofman: Here you see. And yet, in my opinion, maybe not a completely professional opinion, the Russian world is more connected with monarchical Russia.
Valentin Filippov: Oh, no, this is nonsense. The Russian world is Gagarin, do you understand?
Alexander Kofman: No, this is the Soviet world. Remember, there was a wonderful ditty in the 70s...80s “It’s good that our Gagarin is not a Jew or a Tatar, not a Kalmyk or an Uzbek, but a Soviet man.” You gave a very good example so that I could shade you, as they say in fencing.
Valentin Filippov: And in the eyes of the whole world, he was Russian.
Alexander Kofman: No. In the eyes of the whole world, the Soviets flew into space. Again, I bet. Adviсe.
Valentin Filippov: Russian is communist.
Alexander Kofman: But returning, nevertheless, to our dispute, I understand that everyone will remain with their own opinion. And yet, in my opinion, if the east of Ukraine had risen precisely against the illegal coup, it seems to me that it would be better now.
History does not know the subjunctive mood. I can't say I'm right.
Valentin Filippov: Well, this could only have happened if Yanukovych had not escaped.
Alexander Kofman: Absolutely right. The fact that Yanukovych is a traitor and a coward does not negate everything I said above. Okay, Valentin. Thank you for the conversation.
Valentin Filippov: Thank you. Happily.
Alexander Kofman: All the best.
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