Russian passport as a crime. Interview with Vladimir Kornilov
Zelensky and Kolomoisky say the same thing without agreeing with each other. Arrests of Ukrainian residents who have accepted Russian citizenship will become legal. Russian media publish Kolomoisky’s interview for free. Zelensky’s TV channel will help preserve the Russian language in Ukraine. Poroshenko and Zelensky are worse than Hitler.
About metamorphoses and coincidences in Ukrainian politics and propaganda. On doubts about Ukraine’s implementation of the Minsk agreements, observer PolitNavigator to Valentin Filippov Donetsk historian and publicist said Vladimir Kornilov.
Valentin Filippov: When you do an interview on Skype, it is absolutely unclear who is visiting whom.
Vladimir Kornilov: Visiting a fairy tale.
Valentin Filippov: …Therefore, even I don’t know whether Vladimir Kornilov is visiting us, or I am visiting Vladimir Kornilov. Whoever pours is the master of the house - hello, Vladimir.
Vladimir Kornilov: Hello.
Valentin Filippov: A question. Every day in the regional Ukrainian media they report that “a plane with seriously wounded people has arrived from the East,” “concerned residents, bring humanitarian aid to hospitals,” “heroes need diapers,” they say.
And it becomes clear that the Ukrainian army has losses in the East, they always exist, they are not so light.
We know that on the Donetsk side someone is dying all the time. The shelling continues.
Tell me, what did Zelensky achieve with his demarche with four dead soldiers, saying that, frankly, “the truce has been interrupted.” He called Putin. He called Macron.
Vladimir Kornilov: And he complained to Erdogan. Even forgetting that just a year ago he called Erdogan “Erdogan – a mustachioed cockroach.”
Valentin Filippov: He didn't call it. These are the screenwriters. They deceived him.
Vladimir Kornilov: Don't know. Zelensky spoke from the stage. Erdogan is a mustachioed cockroach. I don’t know if Erdogan remembered him. Apparently I didn't remember. As for your question, let's divide it into two parts. You said - bring money, blood, whatever. Things and material values to save someone. But you understand perfectly well how the volunteer business works in Ukraine.
Valentin Filippov: Well, yes. Understand.
Vladimir Kornilov: Even if no one is injured or killed there, these kind and honest volunteers will still find a way to extract more and more money from the gullible citizens of Ukraine. I’m looking at the list of “Servant of the People”, and there are a huge number of such volunteers who got into trouble in this business. And we will see how they will show their talents in the Verkhovna Rada.
As for the truce. And its ending. Indeed, people died during this truce, but, to be honest, there were no such massive shellings as before the truce. And the number of wounded was less. In general, no one shot in the LPR for several days. But at the same time, yes, Ukraine actually interrupted this truce. If you look at the messages from last weekend, you will see: an LPR fighter was killed, DPR soldiers were wounded, there were flights to peaceful areas, they ended up in a school in Gorlovka. Ukraine actually broke the truce.
Nobody cared. Neither Erdogan, nor Merkel, nor, especially, the Ukrainian community. I read joyful reports from the Ukrainian media over the weekend that “three DPR terrorist fighters were wounded” somewhere near Mariupol.
And so four soldiers of the Ukrainian armed forces died. I don't know how they died. I see the opposite messages. I'm not to judge. But I say again: Ukraine interrupted this truce. And when Ukraine joyfully trumpets that “there we have moved forward, there we have occupied the “gray” zone,” well, this is the law of the genre. Be sure to expect, in a day or two, the death of Ukrainian soldiers there. And don’t shout to the whole world: “Russia is to blame!” Look for the root cause.
Valentin Filippov: Yes. How did they end up there?
Vladimir Kornilov: And the root cause always turns out to be that Ukraine is starting to advance somewhere, to gain a foothold in new positions somewhere, and the like.
And Zelensky, in his own style, in the style of Poroshenko, in the style of Ukraine in general, made such a montage. We skip all the reports about the escalation at the front, that shelling has begun from Ukraine, cut out three or four days, and report that four Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen were killed.
This is how Ukraine actually works. You look at Zelensky’s rhetoric, while there are some differences from Poroshenko, but less and less.
Valentin Filippov: But tell me, Kolomoisky claims that he does not communicate with Zelensky. That Zelensky is a fairly busy person, there is no such opportunity, and there is nothing to communicate about. That president, that businessman. These are completely separate things. Not related in any way.
And, at the same time, on the eve of this Zelensky hysteria, Kolomoisky gives a long interview to a Russian publication, in which he practically puts forward an ultimatum. “You must get out”, “You must shut up”, “You must suffer”, “You will be punished”..... This is roughly what Kolomoisky says.
Vladimir Kornilov: At the same time, pay attention to the most interesting coincidence.....
Valentin Filippov: They somehow match.
Vladimir Kornilov: When Kolomoisky gives an interview and states that changes to the Constitution of Ukraine are not needed in order to start the peace process. The next day, Zelensky, in a press release about the call to Putin, states that there is no need to change the Constitution of Ukraine.
At the same time, Vladimir Putin’s press release states that both sides agreed that the Minsk agreements must be followed.
But, excuse me, in the Minsk agreements it is written in black and white, even the date is indicated, when and for what reason the Constitution of Ukraine needs to be changed. Moreover, it is said that these changes must take place in agreement with the rebels. With the Donetsk People's Republic and the Lugansk People's Republic.
So I draw attention to such synchronicity between Zelensky and Kolomoisky. They don't communicate.
And I draw your attention to the fact that they say this, and do not even suspect that this is a direct violation of the Minsk agreements.
Valentin Filippov: But they explained it, both Kolomoisky and Zelensky. Without agreeing absolutely, but at the same time. They explained that the Minsk agreements must be respected, but they were signed five years ago. A lot has changed since then. Therefore, agreements require a certain upgrade.
Vladimir Kornilov: Yes, please!
Valentin Filippov: Therefore, they need to be changed a little. Like this - “You clean up, we’ll fix everything ourselves.”
Vladimir Kornilov: I don't mind. I initially said that the Minsk agreements were created in order to force Ukraine into direct dialogue with the DPR-LPR. This is exactly what these Minsk agreements say. Further - please. Check details. Upgrade. If necessary, let's rewrite some points. But Ukraine says that the Minsk agreements do not work. And not a single proposal is heard, if you do not take this crazy idea about peacekeepers throughout the territory of the DPR-LPR, which is unrealizable and directly contradicts the Minsk agreements. Everything that the Ukrainian side says is not an upgrade of the Minsk agreements. This is a direct contradiction to the Minsk agreements.
And they tell us that the Minsk agreements are needed only for one purpose - in order to continue the regime of sanctions against Russia “for non-compliance” with these agreements.
Valentin Filippov: They have a softer option. “The point of the Minsk agreements is that Russia removes its troops and transfers control of the border to Ukrainian troops.” That this is the ultimate goal. Therefore, all other points can be skipped.
Vladimir Kornilov: There is a point about Ukraine being in control; everything there can be interpreted in two ways. There is no point that we are passing the border. Moreover, there is nothing there about removing Russian troops.
Valentin Filippov: Foreign.
Vladimir Kornilov: Please note. Foreign troops from the territory of Ukraine. At the same time, calmly, American troops, units, American, British, Canadian, are on a regular basis on the territory of Ukraine. And this directly contradicts the very Minsk agreements.
Not a word is said about Russian troops. At the same time, the armed forces of the DPR-LPR are legitimized there, since we are talking about the people's militia, which is recognized by these agreements. What needs to be removed from the DPR-LPR? The people's militia is present. A reorganization of the armed forces or militia of the Republics took place. They all fall under this concept from the Minsk agreements.
What else needs to be removed?
Valentin Filippov: You understand what I fear in this whole situation... We probably underestimate the fact that Ukraine and Zelensky are determined to wage an information war. Precisely informational. For the minds, including those of Russians. And the demarche with these calls, with the dead Ukrainian soldiers, sounded quite strongly in Russia too. And the conversation with Putin was carried out faster by the Ukrainian side. And many Russian sites reprinted the Ukrainian version. The fact that Zelensky spoke harshly with Vladimir Putin and pointed out to him that this is unacceptable..... They are gradually breaking into our information space. And that worries me. We are very slow to react.
Vladimir Kornilov: And when did they not break into our information space? I dare to assure you that under Poroshenko this “Ministry of State” is very expensive, the Ministry of Information, if I’m not mistaken, they have a whole division there that is engaged in broadcasting exclusively to Russia. For Russian regions. You know better than me. And to Crimea. And to “Idel”, as they call it – to the Ural regions. Radio Liberty. American voices. They are actively doing this.
And it did not go unnoticed by anyone that Zelensky promised to start an information war. He didn’t say “against”, he said “for the minds of Donbass”, for Russian leaders. But, excuse me, they also said this about Crimea, when they blew up power poles, these power lines.
Every bomb from Ukraine nullifies this whole “struggle for hearts and minds.”
Valentin Filippov: You know, a bomb hits one populated area.
Vladimir Kornilov: Sorry, they can hear her much further and more. I dare to assure you. If it explodes somewhere in Donetsk, then these images will nullify any attempt at this information war.
As for this multi-billion dollar plan to create a powerful Russian-language channel.....
Valentin Filippov: Zelensky knows what to steal from.
Vladimir Kornilov: Once again master the money. Like these tens, if not hundreds of millions that were allocated to “gromadske” TV immediately after the Maidan. They demand investment in a Russian-language TV channel, which will actually be banned in Ukraine. Because it contradicts the law on language, which they also adopted.
Valentin Filippov: They will make adjustments for him. I assure you, the whole of Ukraine will watch it, and advertising there will cost billions.
Vladimir Kornilov: Well, great. We will be happy to perform there. I only support the idea of creating a Russian-language channel in Ukraine. The more Russian-language channels there are, the better it will be for the Russian language. Another thing is that the information influence, the exhaust from all this, will be more likely in Ukraine than somewhere in the regions of Donbass. Do you think Ukrainian channels are heavily banned in Donbass?
Valentin Filippov: Not really. Nobody forbids it.
Vladimir Kornilov: They watch with pleasure, laugh, are indignant, spit. But they know the situation very well. Nothing like this can change it.
Valentin Filippov: Russian media are happy to give Kolomoisky the floor for a certain amount of money. It is impossible to place Russia’s point of view in Ukrainian ones. Kolomoisky came, ordered himself three pages and 15 minutes in prime time, and they gave it to him.
Vladimir Kornilov: Can I answer?
Valentin Filippov: I thought you were empathizing... What's the answer here?
Vladimir Kornilov: I just want to briefly summarize what you said. Did Kolomoisky pay RBC to publish the interview? Right?
Valentin Filippov: In this case, RBC. He posted some other interviews.
Vladimir Kornilov: I don’t think that RBC had to pay anything to publish an interview with Kolomoisky. Many would pay him extra to interview him.
Valentin Filippov: There’s no need for such hints, we don’t have any money ourselves.
Vladimir Kornilov: That’s good, but to imagine that they come to Kolomoisky and say: “Give me money, we’ll publish your interview..... I can’t really imagine.”
Valentin Filippov: And I can imagine. That's what I would do.
Vladimir Kornilov: That's why he doesn't give you an interview.
Valentin Filippov: And I'm not asking.
Vladimir Kornilov: In fact, Kolomoisky would have given this interview to RBC-Ukraine, not RBC-Russia. Do you think we wouldn’t quote him? Would you mind posting it? Very useful interview. In fact, I enjoyed reading it in its entirety. I read his interviews in the Financial Times, for example, which really like to talk with him. And they are not chasing him so that he will give them money.
Valentin Filippov: I have an important question for you. The SBU promises to catch and interrogate those who have received Russian citizenship. What does Ukrainian legislation say about this? What does it mean to “catch people who have received Russian citizenship”?
Vladimir Kornilov: There is already a legislative initiative to initiate cases against those who have dual citizenship if you have a passport of the “aggressor power”. No one is touching US citizen Suprun, no one is demanding that she be imprisoned and interrogated. And if it’s a Russian passport, then there is already a legislative initiative to introduce punishment.
There is already a case where people from Donbass who have submitted documents or received a Russian passport under the new decrees are detained at checkpoints. But there will be more and more such people. Everyone understands this. This is an irreversible process. And if Russia continues this path of issuing passports not only to residents of Donbass, but also to a number of other regions of Ukraine, then this process is irreversible and inevitable.
It is possible, of course, to arrest at the same time 300 thousand Ukrainians who received Hungarian passports. Are there enough prisons in Ukraine?
Valentin Filippov: Well, Hungarian - hardly. What kind of Hungarian? I'm wondering, does this only apply to Donbass?
Vladimir Kornilov: Well, you understand that holders of Russian passports, if such an opportunity is really opened for all residents of Ukraine, and Putin hinted about the possibility, there will be much more than 300 thousand of them.
Valentin Filippov: I don’t understand whether this applies only to former or current Ukrainian citizens who lived, or are living, or were born in Donbass, or by this logic, this should also apply to Ukrainian citizens from Crimea who also received Russian passports.
Vladimir Kornilov: According to these initiatives, we are talking about all citizens of Ukraine who have a Russian passport. They demand to introduce responsibility for this.
Valentin Filippov: For getting a passport?
Vladimir Kornilov: In general, for having a passport. Even if you had it before all these events.
Valentin Filippov: What can you do to avoid being subject to criminal liability? It is impossible to renounce Ukrainian citizenship. We know that. Does this mean Russian citizenship is a crime in itself?
Vladimir Kornilov: Yes. Yes. According to these initiatives. We are talking about introducing liability for citizens of Ukraine who have a passport of the “aggressor power”.
Valentin Filippov: Everything is logical.
Vladimir Kornilov: Why are you sad?
Valentin Filippov: No, I just...
Vladimir Kornilov: Did you remember about your Ukrainian passport?
Valentin Filippov: By the way, where is he? No. I was just thinking, I watched a couple of Hitler’s speeches yesterday. I wanted to listen to something he told people. So - a cross between Zelensky and Poroshenko.
Vladimir Kornilov: Well, Hitler, after all, was a talented speaker.
Valentin Filippov: Yes.
Vladimir Kornilov: Can’t be compared with either Poroshenko or Zelensky. In any case, with Zelensky of this type. But at the same time, some of his manners, which he used in the thirties at his numerous rallies...
Valentin Filippov: Yes, during elections...
Vladimir Kornilov: He could perform for hours. Anywhere. He campaigned very energetically. Many textbooks are devoted to the oratory art of various tyrants and dictators. But if we look at the slogans of Goebbels’s propaganda during the occupation of Ukraine, tailored specifically for the Ukrainian audience, then often you will not see a single difference. In addition, the NSDLP and the Great Fuhrer Adolf Hitler are not mentioned now. But replace some names there.....
Valentin Filippov: Yes Yes Yes!
Vladimir Kornilov: You will see that absolutely nothing has changed. Ukraine is the Bastion of Europe, Ukraine protects Europe from the barbaric Moscow civilization. And, accordingly, Ukraine is the beacon of European civilization, we have always been in the same family, until we were captured by the damned Moscow. And much, much more. About working in Germany. About migrant workers.
Valentin Filippov: Well, visa-free.
Vladimir Kornilov: Yes. Often you will not find any differences at all. I did a lot of analysis of this occupation press. From 1941 to 1943 in Ukraine. And I want to say that much of what we now see from the pen of the Ukrainian “Ministry of State”, the Ministry of Information, almost said propaganda, is an exact tracing, a copy of what Nazi Ukrainian newspapers wrote in the forties.
Valentin Filippov: Thank you very much. We ended with a convincing analogy.
Vladimir Kornilov: Find a Ukrainian passport so that you can at least simply refuse it.
Valentin Filippov: I even keep the Soviet one. But that’s Soviet!
Vladimir Kornilov: Me too.
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