Thread by @les_politiques

#UKRAINE: The Real #Zelensky consortiumnews.com/2022/04/29/ukr…

"Ukrainian academic Olga Baysha...has studied #Zelensky’s rise to power & how he has wielded that power since becoming president. In the interv (link 👆), Baysha discusses Zelensky’s embrace of neoliberalism...authoritarianism and how his actions contributed to the current war"

"Since the declaration of #Ukraine’s independence in 1991, two ideas of national identity have been competing in Ukraine: 'ethnic Ukrainian' versus 'eastern Slavic.'"

"#Ukraine’s independence of 1991 was to a big extent also a matter of economic concerns. Many Ukrainians supported the idea of political divorce from Russia because of an expectation that Ukraine would be better off economically — this is what propagandistic leaflets promised us"

"This economic hope was not realized. In many ways, the collapse of the Soviet Union radically changed people’s lives for the worse because of #Ukraine’s neoliberalization — the marketization of the social sphere and ruination of the Soviet welfare state."

"up to 72% of Ukrainians did not support his land reform, the flagship of #Zelensky’s neoliberal program. After his party approved it despite people’s indignation, Zelensky’s rating fell ...to 23% in January 2022. The reason is simple: a deep sense of betrayal."

"People realized that they were duped once again — the reforms have been carried out in the interests of not Ukrainians but global capital." #Ukraine

#Zelensky's 51 half-hour TV series 'Servant of the people' served as his informal election platform. His real election platform was 1601 words in length. The people of #Ukraine were deceived.

"The message delivered by #Zelensky to Ukrainians through his show is clearly populist...The country becomes healthy only after getting rid of both oligarchs and their puppets. Some of them are imprisoned or flee the country; their property confiscated..."

#Zelensky's show ignored "the theme of the Donbass war, which erupted in 2014, a year before the series started being broadcast."

"#Zelensky’s election promises, made on the fringes of the virtual & the real, were predominantly about #Ukraine’s “progress,” understood as “modernization,” “Westernization,” “civilization”... this...discourse ... allowed Zelensky to camouflage his plans for neoliberal reforms"

"Only after #Zelensky had consolidated his presidential power...did he make it clear that the “normalization” & “civilization” of #Ukraine meant the privatization of land and state/public property, the deregulation of labor relations, a reduction of power for trade unions..."

"the #Maidan change of power in 2014 marked the beginning of a completely new era in the history of #Ukraine in terms of Western influence on its sovereign decisions... never in the pre-Maidan history of Ukraine had the country appointed foreign citizens to top ministerial posts"

"these appointments resulted not from the will of Ukrainians but from the recommendations of the global neoliberal institutions, which is not surprising given that the Maidan itself was not supported by half of #Ukraine’s population"

The West has vampirized #Ukraine.

"More than 75% of those living in the Donetsk & Luhansk oblasts...did not support the #Maidan, while only 20% of people living in Crimea supported it.
These figures...did not prevent Western institutions of power from arguing that the Maidan was the uprising of “Ukrainian people”

"in his reforming zeal, #Zelensky went (after the opposition). In Feb2021...3 oppositional television channels...were shut down. Another (one) was banned in the beginning of 2022...After the war broke out...dozens of independent journalists, bloggers and analysts were arrested"

"#Zelensky only uses this war to strengthen dictatorial tendencies within his regime of gov, which started being formed right after Zelensky came to power — when he created a party machine to control the parliament & rubber-stamp neoliberal reforms without regard to public mood"

#Zelensky('s)... sanctions against his political opponents...involved the extrajudicial seizure of property without any evidence of illegal activities"

A #Ukraine ministry of interior adviser created a website, #Myrotvorets, on which he published the names of prominent people opposed to #Maidan. Some individuals on the list ended up assassinated by nationalists because the website helped the nationalists find their victims.

"The site was not shut down even...when #Myrotvorets published the personal data of well-known foreign politicians, including former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder...in contrast to Mr. Schröder residing in Germany, thousands of Ukrainians...cannot feel safe"

"All those arrested in March 2022 (by #Ukraine, after the war started), had been on #Myrotvorets as well."

"Many of those whose names are on #Myrotvorets managed to flee #Ukraine ...One of them is Tarik Nezalezhko...On April 12, 2022...being safe outside Ukraine, he made a post on YouTube, calling Ukraine’s Security Service “Gestapo” and giving advice...on how to avoid being captured"

"#Ukraine is not a democratic country....For a long period of time, the crimes of Pinochet’s regime had not been investigated. But in the end, humanity discovered the truth. I only hope that in Ukraine this will happen earlier."

This is on you, western Liberals!
"From the first days of the protests...the unity between liberals associating the Euromaidan with progress...and radicals co-opting the movement for their nationalistic agenda was an important prerequisite for the...overturning of power" #Ukraine

"Why did #Zelensky make a U-turn to nationalism despite people’s hopes that he would pursue the politics of reconciliation?
...this is because radicals...do not hesitate to use force against politicians, courts, law enforcement agencies, media workers, and so forth"

Ukrainian radicals (Neo-Nazis) even intimidate political opponents living outside #Ukraine

"What falls out of the mythical frame of reference for the war (offered by #Zelensky to the world) is the broader context... the fact that for years #Ukraine has been refusing to implement the #Minsk peace agreements..."

"The current war is a prolongation of the war of 2014, which started when Kiev sent troops to Donbass to suppress anti-#Maidan rebellion...The acknowledgement of this broader context...implies the acknowledgement that #Ukraine is also responsible for what is going on."

"In terms of selling this one-dimensional story to the world, #Zelensky’s artistic skills appear invaluable... Answering the Q of a French reporter...on how his life had changed with the...the war, Zelensky replied...
“Today, my life is beautiful. I believe that I am needed"

"this construction is alarming: it implies that #Zelensky enjoys the unique opportunity to perform on a global stage provided by the war. It made his life beautiful...In contrast to millions of Ukrainians whose life is not nice at all and thousands of those who are not alive"

Thanks @natyliesb for this interview that takes us deep inside Ukrainian society and politics post-#Maidan and the role #Zelensky found for himself in this context... consortiumnews.com/2022/04/29/ukr…