Aletho News

Ukraine will not recognize rights of Russian citizens

By Lucas Leiroz | November 23, 2023

Apparently, not even with the catastrophic military results and serious consequences of the conflict, Ukraine is willing to change the way it treats ethnic Russian citizens. In a recent statement, a top Ukrainian politician made it clear that there will be no recognition of the rights of the Russian population in Ukraine. In practice, this is an admission that Kiev will continue to practice genocide against Russian speakers, further legitimizing Moscow’s military actions.

In an interview with Ukrainian state TV on November 20, Ruslan Stefanchuk, head of the country’s parliament, stated that there will be no concessions from Ukraine regarding the rights of Russian citizens. Stefanchuk claims that there are no ethnic minorities in Ukraine, which is why there should be no protection to Russians and other groups. Furthermore, he clearly states that the Russian population on Ukrainian territory can be legitimately persecuted now, as they are supporting Moscow’s military measures.

“There are no Russian ethnic minorities in Ukraine as of now and there can be none (…) If a people do not show respect but commit aggression against Ukraine, their rights should be infringed upon in this field”, he told journalists.

More than that, Stefanchuk said that Kiev has reached a “consensus” with its European partners on this topic. According to him, there is a common “understanding” between Ukraine and Europe regarding the non-existence of Russian minorities in the country. If this information is confirmed, the situation will become even more serious, as European leaders will be openly supporting the anti-Russian genocide practiced by the neo-Nazi regime.

Until now, despite the unlimited support of most European states for Ukraine, the institutional stance on minorities’ rights has been ambiguous. This year, Ukraine was requested to improve its ethnic policies, recognizing local minorities. The measure is a prerequisite in the process of joining the European Union, which was demanded by Kiev. In this sense, the Venice Commission asked Ukrainians to make some reforms, allowing, for example, the official use of other languages in regions with a non-Ukrainian majority.

As expected, Kiev never complied with European requests and continued its supremacist policy towards other peoples. Despite really wanting to enter the EU, the neo-Nazi regime is ideologically linked to the racist mentality and will not change this until the effects of the 2014 coup are completely reversed. In the same sense, the Europeans never vetoed the Ukrainian membership project because, despite publicly defending “democratic values”, they are geopolitically aligned with NATO’s proxies.

It is important to emphasize that Stefanchuk clearly lies when he says there are no non-Ukrainian ethnicities in the country. There are regions of Ukraine with a Russian majority, as well as significant Hungarian, Polish, Moldovan and other populations. All non-Ukrainian people have suffered racism to some degree since the neo-Nazi Junta came to power in Kiev. Undoubtedly, the people most affected are Russians, as Russophobia is a vital part of Ukrainian ultranationalist ideology. Since 2014, Russians have been massacred in a brutal process of ethnic cleansing, which resulted in Moscow’s decision to launch a special military operation to protect its people.

However, non-Russian people are also persecuted in Ukraine. One of the greatest evidences of this is the case of the Transcarpathia’s Hungarians. Kiev has persecuted the local people in recent years, closing Hungarian schools and reducing the population’s civil rights. As the conflict escalated, something even more brutal began to be done, as the regime launched a campaign of forced recruitment of ethnic Hungarians, sending them en masse to the front lines, while Ukrainians were kept as much as possible in the rear.

In fact, the Ukrainian reality is an example of what happens when xenophobic and ultranationalist groups are placed in power to serve selfish geopolitical interests. NATO strengthened Ukrainian neo-Nazism to carry out a prolonged war plan against Russia, consciously using racism and ethnic hatred as tools against Moscow. Now, even in the face of imminent military defeat, Ukrainian non-Nazis continue to insist on their racist mentality, which shows how long the conflict will take to end.

Without a voluntary willingness on the part of Kiev to abandon its neo-Nazi ideology, the Russians have no alternative but to continue fighting. The Russian population needs to be protected by Moscow by all possible means. If Kiev does not want to cooperate in reaching a diplomatic consensus, then Russian military efforts will continue.

Lucas Leiroz, journalist, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, geopolitical consultant.

You can follow Lucas on X (former Twitter) and Telegram.

November 23, 2023 - Posted by aletho | Civil Liberties, Full Spectrum Dominance | Human rights, Ukraine