Ukrainian president Zelensky speaks to the nation. Says Ukrainians are united; Russia pressures on Ukraine since years; Ukrainian army is strong and well-armed; European security depends on Ukraine; Ukrainians wish peace; Ukraine stays for diplomacy; /1
Donbas and Crimea will return to Ukraine only after diplomatic talks; Ukraine fights back attacks on economy, protects its currency and economy; urges journalists to be independent and not follow oligarchs' orders; speaks to oligarchs who left Ukraine and urges to come back home;
speaks to state servants and asks to fulfil their duty to protect its nation, also to return back home if they left it already; 16 Feb, the day of expected attack, is proclaimed a day of Nation Unity, official buildings will be decorated with flags; Ukraine will not surrender;
today is the Valentine's day and it is a day for love for the country; today is dark, but tomorrow the sun will rise again. END
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German state media @dwnews in its Russian-speaking „satire show“. Zelensky is leaving a US warehouse with Javelins. Blinken: „And what if there will be no war tomorrow?“ Biden: „No, no. We have given him so much weapons - there will be war for sure now“. What the hell @inespohl?
And welcome @dw_russian news host Margarita Kalz-Mihajlova, who is one of the few top news anchors at Russian-speaking DW news, the face of the channel. She loves to be surrounded by Russian state symbols, and even appears in news wearing colours of Russian national flag.
In 2014, @dwnews broadcasted the same "satiric show" presenting Ukrainian president Poroshenko as a mentally ill person who hallucinates about "green aliens, Martians" who "attack" his country and asks like a crazy for lethal weapons from the US.
Today German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will be most probably re-elected. The person has his image of the "highest moral instance" in Germany - and is one of the most strong supporters of Russian aggression(s). Let me bring some examples (THREAD)
In August 2016, 2 years after start of Russian war on Ukraine, than German Foreign Minister Steinmeier visited Russian Yekaterinburg and hold his speech on continuation of "Dialog" with Russia and "hand-on-hand cooperation" with Russia in Syria - and this after mass bombardments!
In June 2016, Steinmeier has fiercely attacked Nato, claiming that Nato solidarity damages security in Eastern Europe. This was a clear betrayal on our Baltic and Central European allies who were threatened by Russia.
THREAD I can't handle a narrative "Putin is bad, but Yeltsin and Gorbatchov were good!" It is wrong, amoral, and typical West. Gorbatchov was a cold-blood Soviet henchman. He sent tanks against peaceful protestors in Vilnius and Riga. He smashed sculls of Georgians with shovels.
Gorbatchov was a person who covered Chernobyl nuclear disaster and sent thousands of civilians, incl. children, to an open-air May 1st Communist parade in Kyiv exposing them to radiation. He ordered to cover the story, to distribute radioactive meat form farms betw Soviet stores.
Gorbatchov was a person who initiated a hate campaign against dissident Sakharov, virtually killing him. He was very soft towards the West (he needed money after all), but a henchman and a criminal towards his own nation. He is anything but a good person. A bastard.
One of Ukraine's biggest liberal media publishes this unprecedented harsh editorial: "Germany pushes (Europe) into a war and destroys its future in Ukraine. This must stop". The media stresses it is a consolidated position of editors. Read this, @ABaerbock eurointegration.com.ua/articles/2022/…
Good old subtile racism at @ARD_Presse? Chief reporter at @ard_Warschau Jan @pallokat defends Russian myths on Crimea annexation. Confronted with my criticism, he starts to call me "Mr. Sergej". For me - a clear sign that my Eastern European heritage is stressed (cont.)
In Ukrainian or in Polish one can politely address a person "Mr.+FirstName" (Pane Sergiju in Ukrainian for example) But using this form in another language to a German person would be a deliberate stressing of his/her ancestry. Note: he calls Putin "Mr. Putin", not "Mr. Vladimir"
In our previous discussion (in German) I have addressed him as "lieber Herr Pallokat" (dear Mr. Pallokat), what is the only polite way to address a person in German. I know this "Mr.+FirstName" practice of subtile racist attitude from many situation. A friend of mine told me...
If Russia wants to install a pro-Russian govt in Ukraine, they would not bet on dead horses like Azarov. The would: 1) Initiate an attack which Zelensky would not be able to fight back 2) An SBU or Army general (presumably a patriot, but on RUS payroll) would revolt 3) Win (cont)
Ukraine is a living democracy and can't be ruled by dictatorship means. But this democracy's weakness is the lack of political programmatic parties, and the rule of many eader's parties. This is a fruitful soil for populists on Russia's or oligarchs' payroll (like Zelensky was).
As a lot of Ukrainian SBU and Army officers are still obviously well connected to /controlled by Russia, it will not be a problem to find a person from Zelensky's (anyway pro-Russian) team who would play a card "I am not a politician, I am a guy like you, and I will bring order".