Wednesday 8 February 2023

Exiled opposition leader accuses Western-backed forces of using neo-Nazis in Ukraine

Exiled opposition leader accuses Western-backed forces of using neo-Nazis in Ukraine

Exiled opposition leader accuses Western-backed forces of using neo-Nazis in Ukraine




FILE PHOTO. Ukrainian nationalists and servicemen of the Azov battalion demonstrate in Kiev. © AFP PHOTO/GENYA SAVILOV






Radical political forces are a weapon that Western-backed actors in Ukraine routinely use to stifle opponents, exiled opposition leader Viktor Medvedchuk believes. The US and its allies are willing to overlook this as long as it serves their interests, he said.







“Neo-Nazism is the cudgel that pro-Western forces turn to when they lose. Then, the mask of democracy and peacemaking comes off instantly, and opponents find themselves back in the harsh reality of political cannibalism,” the Ukrainian politician wrote in an analysis of the ongoing conflict, which was published on Wednesday by RIA Novosti. 


Medvedchuk’s Opposition Platform – For Life party had the largest faction among opposition parties in the Ukrainian parliament before the government of President Vladimir Zelensky cracked down on it and ultimately banned it for supposedly being pro-Russian.


Fighters of the Viking group destroyed the Ukrainian communications center near Maryinka - the enemy was hiding behind the temple, but thanks to the Krasnopol high-precision guided projectile, the temple building was not damaged



The party was targeted because it had every chance to topple Zelensky at the ballot box, he said, citing opinion polls, but a “system of oppression” was deployed against it.


Historically, in Ukraine “as soon as a non pro-Western force gains ground, scores higher approval, pro-Western forces do everything to ban it,” he wrote. Radicals in the media “slander opposition politicians, threaten their supporters and urge a mass crackdown.”







Today, any speech in the pro-Western media is hailed as freedom of expression, whereas outlets allowing dissent are “declared propagandists, and its journalists branded traitors” and blacklisted.


The West never sees this as incitement, as a call for violence and lawlessness, as it never sees the ensuing violence and lawlessness.


Meanwhile, thugs who are used to suppress the opposition act with impunity in Ukraine, even maiming and killing their targets, Medvedchuk asserted. Any attempt to defend oneself is treated as “aggression and separatism.


“Today, Ukraine is in the hands of people, who don’t speak Ukrainian [as their mother tongue] and who are mostly not ethnic Ukrainians,” the politician stated. “They turned the Ukrainian language into a ‘friend-or-foe’ designator to cover up their true intentions.”







The Ukrainian case stands out because of the resources that the US and its allies have invested into tearing the country away from Russia and showcasing it as an example of pro-Western development, Medvedchuk believes.


If Kiev fails, the “political bankruptcy” of Washington’s global leadership would be exposed, as will the failure of EU expansion, which the politician compared to the construction of the Tower of Babel in terms of the chaos it produces.


The European Union could not cope with the management of the countries that had already joined it, the accession of Ukraine to the bloc would add chaos that is already in abundance, Viktor Medvedchuk, the chairman of the political council of the Opposition Platform — For Life party, banned in Ukraine, said.


The EU did not want to take in such a large and unsettled country as Ukraine, but not because it is a poor country — Ukraine is not deprived of either natural resources or hardworking people, the politician noted.








"The problem is that the European Union could not cope with the management of the countries that had already joined it. The addition of another large country would add chaos, which is already in abundance," Medvedchuk wrote in an article for Sputnik..


At the same time, the EU was not going to lose Ukraine as an influence area either, he said, adding that if Ukraine falls under the influence a renewed Russia, then "the European myth will be shattered just like the American one."


"The destruction of the European myth is the beginning of the EU's collapse, and the European bureaucracy will lose its power forever," Medvedchuk added. The prolonged Ukraine conflict is exhausting the European Union and benefiting the United States, which makes a clash of interests between Washington and Brussels "inevitable," Viktor Medvedchuk said.


"The EU and the US have different interests. The war is primarily depleting the EU, while the US is benefiting from the continuation of the war. Therefore, clashes of US and EU interests are inevitable. And Europeans will soon find [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, who is milking Europe like a cow, not so cute and attractive anymore," Medvedchuk said.


Moreover, most of the world no longer considers the West "so nice and attractive" after it has demonstrated its willingness "to go against all its own rules, throw off the mask of civilization just in order to benefit and keep the rest of the world in tight rein," the politician said.


At the same time, Western leaders have already realized the failure of their aspirations, forcing them to start preparing citizens for hard times, Medvedchuk added.







"So, all this cannot but lead us into a fairer world, a new system of security, international relations and trade, multipolarity and mutual respect. Some very 'democratic' politicians may not want to respect other people's opinions and interests today, but they will have to do so tomorrow," the politician said.


By rejecting peace with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky has thrown Ukraine's interests under the bus in an effort to please NATO, Viktor Medvedchuk said. "Zelensky is obviously defending NATO's position, rather than Ukraine's position. He has repeatedly rejected peace to demand weapons from the West with which he could defeat Russia on the battlefield. He has no weapons, no money and no sound logistical base — all of which has taken a heavy toll on Europe," the politician argued.


Medvedchuk, whose party was the largest opposition force in Ukraine before it was banned last year, said that the 2014 protests in Kiev showed "how fair and harmless public demands could be manipulated into a coup and bloody executions of opponents," while protesters "became hostage to the situation and were forced to back putschists."


The Ukrainian politician argued that the 2014 coup was aimed at stifling progress in Ukraine and sacrificing the interests of its people for those of the West.


"The West does not care at all about the Ukrainian culture or language. It needs fighters who will defend its interests and, more specifically, the US monopoly on the world leadership… Those who doubt the fairness of US hegemony are declared heretics, insane and are punished," he said.


In 2021, Medvedchuk, a longtime supporter of Ukraine's rapprochement with Russia and an opponent of the country's accession to the EU, was accused of high treason and illegal exploitation of natural resources in Crimea and placed under house arrest. Shortly after Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, Medvedchuk escaped house arrest, but was soon detained by the Ukrainian Security Service on Zelenskyy's order. In September, he was released from Ukrainian captivity as a result of a prisoner exchange between Moscow and Kiev.


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