Ruslan Kotsaba: Even Western Ukraine is recovering
Maidan will not work against Zelensky. Poroshenko, Soros and company are in the minority. The fact that the war with Russia is a scam is already understood even in Western Ukraine.
Ruslan Kotsaba, a Ukrainian journalist, a former political prisoner who is still persecuted in Ukraine, but is not leaving it, told PolitNavigator columnist Valentin Filippov about how Baba Yulia is waiting for early elections and how ashamed she is of Ukrainian diplomats at the UN.
Valentin Filippov: Ruslan, greetings. Congratulations!
Ruslan Kotsaba: Let's. I mean the same to you.
Valentin Filippov: No, it’s a pity that most of my viewers do not understand Ukrainian language. It's a pity.
Ruslan Kotsaba: I understand. I will be in Russian.
Valentin Filippov: A couple of weeks ago there was a situation in a Ukrainian TV studio when a “combat veteran” tried to be rude to you. Is there really still a widespread mood – “Let’s fight Russia until victory”?
Ruslan Kotsaba: Well, of course, there are such sentiments, but they are mostly, as it were, minority, that is, there are fewer of them, and in general, representatives of the so-called “party of war”... I call this not only politicians, but also people, voters, who believe that a civil war like ours can be won.
Well, we understand that in such a war, as a rule, the third party, which is from the outside, wins. Because, according to historians’ definitions, a civil armed confrontation bleeds the country and makes the prospects for statehood illusory.
Well, because I distinguish between the country of Ukraine and the state of Ukraine, for me these are slightly different things.
Valentin Filippov: I was invited to a talk show today. The day before, a Sevastopol deputy was arrested on the border of Crimea and Ukraine, who went to get a biometric passport.
Ruslan Kotsaba: You must understand that this is significant, because this is our Ukrainian tradition, which, like, to God is God’s, to Caesar what is Caesar’s.
We understand that when all the deputies, officials, bureaucrats, the Crimean SBU, almost all law enforcement agencies, as I call them, “power-protecting”, they are all like that, overnight, oops, you know, like in that film with a cap, which...
Valentin Filippov: Yes Yes Yes. Wedding in Malinovka.
Ruslan Kotsaba: Although for me, let’s say, it was a shock when four thousand certified employees of these two departments of the SBU, Ukrainian, when Nalyvaichenko gave them the command, without secrets, without relatives, without ksiva, in general, just go to Chongar, like, go out... This was an order from their immediate superior.
Well, I understand, there is a female warrant officer or, there, she served somewhere in some SBU sanatorium, you can understand her...
But the people who, under oath, whom we, as taxpayers, supported for this very purpose, for such situations...
Valentin Filippov: Ruslan. I can argue with you very strongly, but this will simply take the topic in a different direction.
The fact is that at that time it was really perceived that Ukraine had collapsed, there was no legitimate government, putschist fascists had come to power, and all these oaths had been nullified.
A lot of people treated it that way. This is why Crimea left, this is why in Donbass people said “excuse me, please. Well, that's it. If this is possible, then so are we. If it's legal..."
And I remember the mood here in Odessa. Our police were also waiting for “polite people” and, as it were, well, they were very surprised: “Where are the polite people? We have gathered to swear allegiance to the new state. Ukraine no longer exists.”
Well, in fact, legally, that’s how it turned out.
Ruslan Kotsaba: To take advantage, especially of a neighboring state, to take advantage of such a helpless state, into which, by the way, these people whom you call putschists, Turchynov, Pashinsky, Parubiy, Yatsenyuk, brought Ukraine into - it somehow turned out not to be neighborly. OK then. Give me questions.
Valentin Filippov: OK. Fine. I heard from my Odessa residents who are in Odessa the idea that Zelensky should build an alternative street. Of course, this scares me.
I say: “Sorry, but we’ve already tried it, as it were. Then the civil war begins."
That is, how radical are the sentiments in general? Are the people who are going to protest against the implementation of the Minsk agreements ready for bloodshed?
Ruslan Kotsaba: Well, I call them the “party of war” or, let’s say, “revanchists”, whom voters gave, as they say, in the teeth in the last elections.
That is, after all, the 73% that was given for Zelensky, we understand that this is not for Zelensky, it is against the then government...
And now all these revanchists have cheered up a little, perked up. And they hope to take revenge. And, they say, while Zelensky is promoting himself in Paris, on the 9th they want to show here for the internal user, including our “geopolitical partners” in Paris, strategic ones, that, they say, Zelensky is not that he does not control Ukraine, power in Ukraine, which he does not even control in his own government quarter.
Well, as you understand, you don’t need much for this. There are about a hundred or two hundred hotheads, several automatic self-propelled guns, heavy machine guns. And, as you and I understand, after, say, they betrayed law enforcement officers on the Maidan, and Yanukovych then fled, shamefully fled, although they carried out the order to restore constitutional order, after what they did then, at 13 -th, 14th year with law enforcement officers, I don’t think that current law enforcement officers will not remember that negative experience.
And they, of course, when shooting starts in the government quarter, they, of course, will run away.
Well, what next? Fine. They may even seize the President's Office. Especially now. Already, as it were, Zelensky had to show that he is more transparent, and there are no longer all these fences, as before, well, that they didn’t let people through.
Well, what next? All the same, we understand that these political losers, that is, there, Grandma Yulia, Grandma Yulia, because she has a lot of, like, well, admirers, I call them, that they have a braid in their head, they once had a hat like this...
Valentin Filippov: This is a brain drain.
Ruslan Kotsaba: But let’s not go with grandma Yulia, because she is a very charismatic woman, she, of course, has already lost hers, but still she waited for her moment. We already see that they will already happen, early elections...
This parliament will not live to see the end, the legal end of its legitimate term. And therefore, Baba Yulia will be daring and again more convincing than ever.
But now, I mean the PES party, the “European Justice” party, well, and Pinchuk’s Soros, it’s called the “Voice” party, with them there are a little more problems, more complicated, because they are in many ways ATO officers.
And the previous government formed them into such different fighting squads under the guise of some kind of public organizations. Well, and, accordingly, it provided for direct government funding, or indirect, sub-financing.
And they were allowed to engage in a little racketeering, to bully a little with businessmen under the guise of, they say, “Well, how? Our boys are dying. Why can’t you transfer one hundred thousand to the account of our beautiful volunteer organization? Look at the aluminum medals we have there, crosses all over our chests.”
Therefore, I think that it is precisely from the PSA side, that is, the European Solidarity party, that problems can be expected from them.
But I don’t think that these street confrontations, even if there are shootings, that they will develop into, well, some semblance of a coup or Euromaidan.
Because people are vaccinated, first of all. Secondly, people have... there is probably some kind of cycle, a pattern, when steam comes out, and then for this steam to suddenly come out again, in the form of at least that whistle, as for example with Euromaidan, it needs to accumulate.
I think it's possible there, once every ten years. Now people still remember how politicians screwed them over. Like Parsley...
By the way, someone promised to imprison Petrushka, and something already... everything is somehow... the New Year is approaching, parliamentary immunity will already be lifted, right? But Parsley hasn’t been planted.
OK then. The fact is that, I repeat once again, I don’t think that all these riots in the government quarter will even begin, that they will develop into something large-scale. Moreover, local power is gradually becoming stronger. Even if the authorities scatter, then without the support of the people these putschists, well, will seize the State Administration there, well, something else...
Valentin Filippov: I remember the Maidan of 14, and the local authorities were quite strong. And people in the Southeast did not support the coup. But the president got scared and ran away.
And I think that if Zelensky suddenly gets scared and runs away... To Rostov, there, or somewhere else, or to Israel. Where can he run away? Then I don’t know what will start again.
This is what I wanted to ask. You mentioned nationalist-Nazi activists. We understand that they are bandits. I understand that when they run a racket around Odessa, there are “solid separatists” there.
And how do they oppress in Western Ukraine? After all, the majority of people there are ethnic Ukrainians, speaking Ukrainian, patriotic, supporting Maidan, European integration, the unity of Ukraine... How do they oppress them, on what grounds? They cannot come and say, “You are a separator.”
Ruslan Kotsaba: It is a deep misconception that the Ukrainians of Galicia in Western Ukraine... they are recovering. This is a disease that... xenophobia, that, they say, “the biggest enemy is Russia,” that, there, “Putin will attack, Russian tanks will be in Lvov.” This whole propaganda tinsel, it is passing.
Therefore, I think that there is no need, as they say, to overthink things, especially where there are no problems. People are recovering. I communicate, I myself come almost twice a month to my homeland in Ivano-Frankivsk, I communicate. I’m recognizable, I’m popular, I communicate with my fellow countrymen, with my friends, I have a lot of acquaintances and friends.
They themselves come up to me, they apologize, that, Ruslan, excuse us, we didn’t understand then that it was just a business, a scam by the oligarchs, that Akhmetov just wanted to butt heads with Kiev, and that’s how it turned out for him. That's why I... Don't look for a black cat in a black room, especially when it's not there.
Everything is fine. The main thing now is that, as they say, Zelensky does not make a mistake, that is, that he does not screw up. Because, you see, all these guys from Poroshenko’s party, from the party there, Yulia Tymoshenko, this Pinchuk’s “Voice”, they gave him some kind of cynical memorandum that, they say, “Dude, you’ll go there , look, don’t do it like that, don’t do it like that...”
Well, in short, these are political scoundrels, political losers, the people showed them such a big fact in a friendly manner, and at the same time these political losers still dare to cynically tell him that you don’t do that, although they themselves screwed up with these Minsk agreements, and now demand that he not support them. Well, although this is Poroshenko’s signature. What is the problem?
Valentin Filippov: Then the situation was like this. Listen, but in fact, the Minsk agreements for Ukraine were a successful option.
Ruslan Kotsaba: I was in prison then, only two months later the judge allowed me to have a TV in my cell. I was not in the know, but I later found out that this situation, when it was just flaring up in the Debaltseve cauldron, that when the authorities realized that people, the ATO soldiers themselves, were beginning to see the light, when, for example, these “cyborgs” were separatists at the Donetsk airport they stop the car and, in accordance with these agreements, count the cartridges and the number of grenades.... That is, people began to understand that this was a scam.
That this is stupid business, business between oligarchs, who in their majority, the overwhelming majority, are international, they are cosmopolitans. For an oligarch, he doesn’t care about the country, for him the country is like a business, it’s like a factory, it works, and it’s good.
I saved some money and boarded a plane to go to Geneva somewhere.
Valentin Filippov: As I understand it, in Ukraine there is a fairly big demand for peace? And among the oligarchs? Do they already want peace and stability?
Ruslan Kotsaba: No, look, you said the key word “stability”. Every oligarch wants stability, because in stability it is easier to chop cabbage, as they say.
But you and I understand that oligarchs are international. Let’s say that if Zelensky doesn’t imprison Kolomoisky, we understand that Kolomoisky will imprison Zelensky.
There was a similar situation in Russia, do you remember when Berezovsky boasted: “Well, Putin, I installed him, I will do what I say.” Where is Berezovsky now and where is Putin now? Understand?
That is, in the post-Soviet space there is such a tradition, good or bad, but it is a tradition that oligarchs install their own presidents. And then the ability of the protege to distance himself from his “daddy”, the financial donor, this precisely shows your opportunity - either you are an object, or you are a subject.
And therefore this is a position that Zelensky must solve for himself.
Therefore, Valentin, I would like to reassure you, your listeners, my viewers: this is not a problem. Ukraine is recovering. With Russia... All the same, every war ends in peace, and we now need to think like people who are bloggers, who have some other respect, at least among their subscribers, we need us to engage in public diplomacy, that is, so that we sewed together what politicians unstitched.
And for us the main thing is that it be peaceful. By the way, the oligarchs are also interested... Look at the situation: a war to the death between Kolomoisky and Akhmetov. At least after these amendments by Gerus, which are on electricity, right? And yesterday they voted in the Verkhovna Rada that, they say, under no circumstances should you use the aggressor’s electricity, but if this is the case, then you can...
Valentin Filippov: Oil is also not allowed, but if...
Ruslan Kotsaba: That’s it, as an exception, for energy security, you know, if... In short, this is such a scam, this is a business.
Therefore, I think that we must do a lot now in order to reassure our, at least our viewers and subscribers, that everything is fine, Ukraine is recovering, Ukraine is becoming adequate, and the politicians who divided Ukraine into vatniks and vyshevatniks have lost.
This is all that is now, and perhaps will be on the ninth during the meeting of the Normandy Four in Paris. And what will happen in the government quarter is already agony, this is hysteria. Two or three more times and they will die.
Valentin Filippov: You know, for me it’s a big indicator about the recovery of Ukraine. Recovery will occur when prisoners are already exchanged, political prisoners are released, you know, you yourself went through this. And they will stop arresting new people on trumped-up charges: they wrote something wrong on the Internet, they said something wrong. Unfortunately, people are sitting.
Ruslan Kotsaba: I confirm this, and, unfortunately, the criminal prosecution against me has not been stopped. On January 14, just imagine, January 14 is the old New Year, and I had a preparatory hearing at the Kolomyia City District Court. And so the day before yesterday I talked with Tatyana Nikolaevna, with my lawyer, with Montyan, she said, “Well, we should probably go.”
Valentin Filippov: Well, what difference does it make where to drink?
Ruslan Kotsaba: No, well, this is a trial, the selection of a preventive measure, you know, so it’s better after all...
Valentin Filippov: Sober?
Ruslan Kotsaba: ...so that everything is festive. Well, I doubt it'll be like that, but I'd really like it to be.
I remembered Geneva. This is no longer news, but it is very significant that when I was at a UN session, and when these mouflons were next to me, well, let’s call them diplomatic mouflons, because they are not diplomats, they started banging the “Ukraine” sign on the table. To, they say, attract attention.
And when all 200 countries, they all look in our direction. And I’m sitting next to you, and everyone thinks that I’m also a member of the Ukrainian delegation. I was so bitter, so ashamed, for the first time in my life I was ashamed that I was next to the “Ukraine” sign, that they would think that I was so inadequate, so insane, like these two unfortunate diplomats who were told that they looked like cockatoos . And, unfortunately, they looked very convincingly like gangster cockatoos.
Yes, they were like woodpeckers, you know, hammering and hammering on this table. And the presenter of this session, Mrs. Anastasia, I forgot her last name, she told them 5 times in a row that, they say, this is a platform for discussions, this is the UN, UN regulations apply here, and even if countries are at war with each other , here you can communicate with each other. And ours knocked with this sign 5 times in a row.
Valentin Filippov: Do you remember the Verkhovna Rada before the Maidan? When, if you’ll excuse me, here again it turns out to be about language, as soon as someone starts speaking, and these same “u-kra-in-ska, u-kra-in-ska“and boom, boom... And this is how our parliament sat in Ukraine. Now he generally meets, I don’t understand on what principle: now there’s a fight, then there’s this in unison.”українська" And remember, Yulia Tymoshenko stormed the switchboard and cut off the electricity, so this is, so to speak, a tradition of Ukrainian parliamentarism.
Ruslan Kotsaba: But we must remember that after all, these mouflons who disgraced Ukraine at the UN, those deputies who bang signs or shout something in parliament, they exist for our taxes. And this is doubly regrettable, because it turns out that by financing these political morons, then who are we ourselves? If we elect such people? This is the problem.
Okay, let's do something positive. I’m glad to see you, I say hello to everyone and say that Ukraine is recovering, everything is fine, we are returning. Peace, as they say, peace, friendship, chewing gum, people are starting to dare to call their friends in Russia, in territories not controlled by Ukraine, where the central parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, with Crimea, with Crimeans communicate.
That is, everything will be fine, I would even say that it is perhaps even better if it is gradually like this, evolutionary, than a breakthrough, because these are all revolutionary things, in the end they are used by the politicians of the “war party”.
Valentin Filippov: And most importantly, come, because here you can shout at every corner that Crimea is Ukraine, but you still won’t be jailed for it, you can come, that is, your convictions are your convictions. Crimea is Ukraine for you, so great, here you go, though you won’t be able to pay in hryvnias.
Ruslan Kotsaba: I met Ruslan Balbek, your Crimean deputy, and I met Anastasia Gridchina, she is such a nice girl, she is the chairman of the Ukrainian Culture Society...
Valentin Filippov: Yes, I know her, we know each other.
Ruslan Kotsaba: ... yes, we exchanged business cards and I... They also invited me. Perhaps... Well, it’s winter now, what do you have there in Crimea? The same as with us.
Valentin Filippov: Come in the spring, in April...
Ruslan Kotsaba: In the spring, perhaps. For the May holidays, perhaps for the May holidays. That's it, come on, happy, hold on.
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