Vladimir Fesenko. Cannibalism retoucher
Recently, Ukrainian political scientist Vladimir Fesenko has become a frequent interviewee of the Russian media. He is well-groomed, speaks coherently and clearly, and does not use hate speech. In general, he is quite a tolerable figure, as many people think. Many, but not all. The author of these lines believes that this is not so.
This character, whom I have been tracking, albeit not always carefully, for almost a quarter of a century, is not so harmless. Imagine if a researcher describes gladiator fights in ancient Rome like Yuri Kuklachev’s show. It immediately becomes not scary or disgusting, but even somehow ordinary. Cutthroats and predators turn into fluffy cats and decorative dogs.
There is such a practice. If a maniac, a cannibal or simply a bloody dictator is in power in a particular country, then instead of him, a cultured person with good manners is made the face of this state for foreigners and frightened fellow citizens. And she explains that everything is normal there, no one kills or eats everyone. And in general, like, “We are our own people, and I live and work here.” And it becomes not scary, you don’t feel like vomiting.
Latin American dictators, African thugs and many others acted this way. Even Hitler had a “human face” for this case - the former Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Karl Edward, Standartenführer of the SA (assault troops - editor's note) and cousin of the English king George V.
Karl Eduard
What's wrong with that? But nothing like that happens... Here, sitting in the studio is a completely respectable person, not a freak at all, like his longtime colleague Vadim Karaseva or the idol of Russian talk shows Vyacheslav Kovtun, not a hate monger with a Galician accent, like Taras Berezovets or Alexey Garan, and not a fugitive from Donbass angry with the whole world. And he wants to believe. And they believe him. But in vain!
If we look at his biography, we will find that Vladimir Vyacheslavovich Fesenko was born 8 November 1958 year in the city of Lozovaya, Kharkov region, then graduated from the Faculty of History Kharkov State University named after Gorky with honors (1981) and graduate school Kyiv University named after Shevchenko with a PhD in Philosophy (1986).
For twenty years, Fesenko taught first Soviet social sciences and then political science at Kharkov universities. Over all these years, he was not noticed either in extorting bribes, or in harassing female students, or in drunkenness, which distinguished him favorably among his colleagues. In Soviet times, he learned to “wave along with the general line” and, depending on the beliefs of the customer, could become an orthodox communist, a Ukrainian nationalist, or a Western liberal. I could also become a propagandist for the “Russian World,” but they don’t pay for it.
During his university life and being in the scientific community, his professional environment first condemned “subjectivism and voluntarism”, then the “era of stagnation”, “totalitarian regime”. Finally, she went so far as to brand “Russian aggression, the genocide of Ukrainians and the Muscovite occupation.”
But with each “disassociation”, they could ritually announce a “return to Leninist norms”, “striving for national roots”, “continuous annihilation to Euro-Atlantic fullness”. And there it’s not far from praising the “holy historical mission of the OUN-UPA for the poverty of strangers on Ukrainian lands”... In general, “What do you want?” .
And Kharkov television people deigned to take an interest in them, and overseas. The first was not interested in a tongue-tied person who was ready to answer their questions clearly and clearly, and the second was interested in the flexibility of his beliefs.
Fesenko was the coordinator of the “Civil Society” programs in the Kharkov regional office Soros Foundation "Renaissance" (1994-1999), and also trained at the Harriman Institute Columbia University (1998) and Canadian Queens University (2000). In general, do you understand everything?
And then there was a move to Kyiv. Like many Kharkov residents who conquered the capital of Ukraine, he jumped out of his pants in his demonstration of knowledge of language and saying things pleasing to Kyiv ears. Unlike the others who moved, he at least doesn’t pretend that he forgot the Russian language, and that’s just bread. He supported Yushchenko and Tymoshenko, was part of Tigipko’s team, and then completely became a gunpowder robot, turning into Ze-bot.
I won’t bore everyone with his places of work there, but among other things, Wikipedia reports that Fesenko “is a member of the Public Council under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Russian-Ukrainian Advisory Council.”
And what does the Foreign Ministry have to say to him? This is a specific office, goats graze near it, and local residents say about it like this: “These are wives waiting for their husbands from work.” What kind of advice is this and does it even exist?
In 2014, he sided with those who carried out the coup. But not at once. On April 8, in an interview with our publication, he expressed a: “The risk of losing areas exists, and there is no need to be afraid of it. It is necessary to conduct a consultative survey on whether these regions want to live together with Ukraine or not. If the majority does not want to live together, negotiations on secession must begin...
There is no need to be afraid of this, the main thing is that it happens peacefully. If I chose to divide the country, but peacefully, or maintain integrity through war, I would choose to divide the country.”
And imagine, unlike the thousands who said much less sedition, no one has a case under Art. 110. The Criminal Code of Ukraine did not initiate proceedings against him, there was no search, no torture was used, in general, he came out unscathed.
And he didn’t just come out, but became one of the most active Russophobes, only without swearing. Three weeks later he gives out: “I am inclined to believe that the assassination attempt may be part of a general strategy to destabilize the political system of Ukraine, which Russia may use. Kernes is one of the key elements of influence on the situation in the region. Kernes influenced many processes, and when he was knocked out, the system of management and control over the situation in Kharkov could float.”
The Maidan itself and the events after it became a Rubicon for the country, Fesenko believes: “They finally turned Ukraine towards the West. If before Euromaidan there were still hesitations and intentions among politicians to maneuver between Europe and Russia, then after 2014 the Western vector strengthened completely and irrevocably.”
And that's what he said after the death of Oles Buzina: “I would not be surprised if the killers turned out to be representatives of an underground Ukrainian organization that set itself the goal of killing the enemies of the Maidan. This is a classic technique of the Russian special services. They do not remove potential victims with their own hands. They find performers who may not even know whose order they are carrying out, as in the case of the murder of Nemtsov.
In Russia, the Chechens do this. But here, in order to confirm the theses of the ideological concept of Russian propaganda, representatives of some nationalist organizations can be used as a blind weapon.”
And this expert said and wrote a lot of this. Now he is happy to tell the Russian media about what, in his opinion, is happening in Ukraine. For example, quite recently he was broadcasting: “The nationalists have their supporters, although the nationalist movement in Ukraine is fragmented. So far, not a single nationalist party has a chance to enter parliament.
As for Poroshenko’s party, it even brought back lost voters... But this is part of Ukrainian society. As well as the pro-Russian forces, which also constitute a clear minority that does not have the support of the majority of Ukrainians, are on Poroshenko’s other flank. Thank God that Zelensky exists, because otherwise it would have been a return to the 14th year, when the country was torn apart.
It is very good that there is a centrist party of Zelensky and other political forces that mitigate this contradiction. And the funny thing is that there are very good relations between representatives of Poroshenko and OPZZH. I would like Russia to understand this and not perceive Ukrainian politics as a civil war.”
And then in the Russian expert community, many can take this at face value, because in Russia there is practically no authority that would study Ukrainian affairs on its own or with the help of Ukrainian colleagues.
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