Thread by @shaunjlawson

So many Corbyn supporters coming out with this utterly abject bollocks.

Every single person doing it are a disgusting disgrace and the absolute opposite of what they think they are.

Cheerleaders of fascism, war crimes, mass slaughter, lies and slander.

For shame.

https://twitter.com/RealSueKelly/status/1497179433853198349

Anyway, for the benefit of the hard of thinking, here's some facts.

1. Ukrainian democracy was mired in corruption and far worse for a long, long time. In 2004, during the election campaign, Viktor Yuschenko - pro-EU, pro-NATO, anti-corruption - was poisoned by Russia.

The levels of TCDD found in his blood were FIFTY THOUSAND TIMES GREATER than normal. It was remarkable he survived at all.

Yushchenko's father had fought in WW2, been captured by the Nazis and thrown into the camps: including Auschwitz. His mother hid three Jewish girls for fully 18 months.

Despite this, his pro-Russian opponent Viktor Yanukovych (more on whom shortly) called him a 'Nazi'.

It was also despite Yushchenko actively reaching out to Ukraine's Jewish community.

Then came the election. Which featured people voting multiple times for Yanukovych; people voting after polling stations had closed too. Exit polls were FOURTEEN PER CENT out.

The election, in other words, had been stolen.

(At this point, note how many Corbyn supporters who seriously claimed that the 2019 UK election had been rigged are so spectacularly oblivious when an election ACTUALLY WAS RIGGED).

13 days of enormous popular protests followed.

You might expect Corbyn supporters - who claim to be all about fighting 'for the people' - to back such protests when an election is stolen from a candidate who'd already survived a hideous assassination attempt... but you know how it is.

RUSSIA GOOD EU AND WEST BAD 🙄🙄🙄

And at length, quite correctly, the Ukrainian Supreme Court overturned the results and ordered a re-run, which was won by Yushchenko.

At this point, Ukraine was very split between pro-Russian and pro-European voices. Split more or less down the middle, with the public wary.

And it turned out, sadly, that Yushchenko was corrupt. Most of Ukrainian politics was. His presidency turned into a huge mess and massive disappointment.

2. He was succeeded by Yanukovych. Who jailed his main political rival, Yulia Tymoschenko, for 3 years.

Her imprisonment was recognised by the world as nakedly political. I hate to break this to Corbynites and mad Russia fans - but decent leaders do not jail their political rivals.

Since her release, she's been rehabilitated by both Ukraine's Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights.

3. Remember that Yanukovych, as well as imprisoning Tymoshenko, had also tried to steal an election. With him as President, it'd get far, far worse.

He censored the press. He refused to call the Holodomor, Stalin's mass starvation of many millions of Ukrainians, a 'genocide'. He cut benefits for rescue workers from Chernobyl.

In 2013, suddenly, out of nowhere, he changed his mind on signing an association agreement with the EU, and chose Russia instead.

Cue popular protests: which turned into civil unrest when protestors were attacked by the police. He outlawed free speech and freedom of assembly.

Again, pause here to note scores and scores of Corbyn supporters:

- Siding with someone who stole an election
- Siding with someone who locked up his main rival after his previous main rival had been poisoned and almost killed
- Siding with someone who BANNED PROTESTS ALTOGETHER

The protestors were appalled. The Prime Minister resigned. Up to 100 demonstrators were killed by the police, with hundreds more injured.

On top of all this, there was the corruption. Unmitigated, extraordinary amounts of it.

Half his ministers, and most of the police, judiciary and tax authorities all came from the Donbas. Who worked in tandem to wreck the wishes of the Ukrainian people and keep their sovereign country controlled by Russia.

Power was consolidated in the hands of a few oligarchs.

Which worked as follows. The Yanukovych family bought up public and private businesses at rock bottom prices caused, deliberately, by Yanukovych's economic policies.

His net worth was estimated at TWELVE BILLION DOLLARS, and Treasury funds of up to SEVENTY BILLION DOLLARS were transferred to foreign accounts.

His property, acquired via various companies and transactions, was worth SEVENTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS.

In this property, which included a private zoo, a whole fleet of cars, an 18-hole golf course, tennis courts and a private boat, ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS was spent on a single chandelier; FORTY-TWO MILLION DOLLARS was spent on light fixtures.

All in a poor country in which 35% lived below the poverty line. To recap:

- Massive, gargantuan levels of fraud and embezzlement
- Tried to steal one election, his rival was poisoned and he imprisoned his other rival
- His own family bought up practically the whole damn country

- To cross his family meant ruin for almost anyone who tried
- Stuffed the police, judiciary and tax authorities with his own vehemently pro-Russian cronies
- Stole utterly extraordinary amounts from his own people
- Had the police slaughter 100 people protesting against him

And THIS is the man who these utterly shameful, despicable idiots describe as the 'democratically elected President overthrown in a Nazi coup'. 🤮🤮🤮

What happened? This coward, this gangster, this massive criminal did a runner, the day before he'd have rightly been impeached.

As he did a runner, he was instead voted out by a massive majority of Parliament, and elections were called.

That is your 'coup'. The removal of a thief, a murderer, a mafioso gangster and Putin puppet, AFTER HE'D ALREADY FLED IN ANY CASE.

Do Corbyn supporters complain about Trump's impeachment for massive crimes against his country too?

Yanukovych was so beyond the pale, he even secretly requested Russian military intervention. Which gave Putin all the pretext he needed to illegally annex Crimea.

All this absolute drivel about 'Nazis' and 'fascists' came from the mouth of Russian puppet and criminal oligarch, Viktor Yanukovych. Who if you recall, was only interested in enriching his pals from the Donbas.

WHICH IS MOSTLY WHY THE DONBAS THEN BROKE AWAY WHEN HE WAS REMOVED.

The Donbas, whose subsequent war against the rest of Ukraine had been armed by Russia, funded by Russia and enabled by Russia.

The same Russia which almost succeeded in murdering the shortly-to-become Ukrainian President as long ago as 2004. As it's murdered so many others.

Meanwhile, what's the make-up of the 'Nazi, 'fascist' Ukrainian Parliament now, with its 'puppet government installed by Washington'? 🙄🙄🙄

At the last elections, in 2019, that obvious 'Nazi' (he's Jewish, you disgusting cretins) Volodymyr Zelensky won a complete majority.

His party is called Servant of the People. It is anti-corruption, pro-EU, pro-NATO... and it damn well serves the people, which is precisely what Putin cannot abide.

Look at Zelensky right now. His life is in imminent danger. But there he stays: serving his people.

The other four parties in Parliament were all absolutely thrashed at those elections by Zelensky. One of them is Eurosceptic. The other three are all pro-European.

None of these five parties are anything other than mainstream: centre-left, centre, liberal or centre-right.

And do you know how many far-right MPs the 'fascist, Nazi' Ukraine has? Out of 250, the answer is 1.

ONE. OUT OF TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY.

I hope, having read all this, you'll get an idea of why the kind of shite excreted by Sue and so many others makes me so angry.

I find this level of ignorance absolutely unforgivable.

About a man and people who are fighting for their very lives. About a country which has embarked on a brave, open, pluralist, pro-European path. A country desperate for good, clean governance in the common good.

It's THAT which Putin can't deal with. In his world, when Russia jumps, his puppet in Ukraine is supposed to reply "how high, Your Excellency?"

If you have more than one single brain cell, do you REALLY think Ukrainians would be fighting so magnificently and resisting Russia with all their might if they'd had a Nazi 'puppet government' forced upon them?

It's Russia who are the Nazis here, you absolute quarter-wits.

But here's the thing. I only see these despicable lies coming from the hard 'anti-imperialist' (that's a laugh) left.

Nowhere else - other than from Russian propagandists, trolls, bots and Putin himself.

Stupid, shameful people. Their ignorance and sophistry make me sick.

These so-called 'internationalists' - who claim to care about the world so deeply - cannot even be bothered to spend any time learning a single damn thing about Ukraine.

Just as they never do about Venezuela, or Cuba, or Iran, or so many other places either.

They're an absolute embarrassment.

And whenever anyone parrots this total, unadulterated, fascist-enabling, war crimes-enabling, Putin-backing, Europe-endangering stark raving bollocks, they will be blocked on sight.