As Europe is yet again left with a fascist dictator dreaming of resurrecting an empire, let’s talk Victory Day in Russia and Ukraine.
To understand modern Russian identity and how the invasion of Ukraine perfectly fits into it, you have to take a close look at the #VictoryDay.
It might surprise a lot of people, but the Soviet Victory Day was not nearly as big as it is in modern Russia.
In fact, Victory Day in Russia is basically what independence day means for most other nations.
Victory Day provides a perfect bridge between the imperial, Soviet, and d modern-day Russia. It also feeds the unresolved imperialist ambitions of Russia.
Folks, it’s a death cult.
I can’t stress enough how undermining Russian version of Victory Day for the rest of former Soviet states and allies.
Ukraine’s relevance and human sacrifice in defeating the Nazis is one of the most widely ignored aspects of WWII discourse.
There is little joy for Ukraine in the WWII story. It’s a huge tragedy.
Of course, if you create a cult of war, sooner or later you’re gonna find a war to fight. Just call some people “Nazis” enough times and you’re good.
Kindly reminder that the Z-symbol and glorification of modern-day Russia basically means open support for the genocide of Ukrainians.
#NeverAgain now has dark undertones because a fascist war of extermination is here again, in Europe.
But it’s not too late to act.
Support for Ukraine is crucial right now.
If you want your donation to have a real impact, I urge you to donate to my dear friend @bo_pavlo who’s been volunteering 24/7 to supply Ukrainian defenders with drones.
Donate here: 100drones.com.ua
Feel free to download and post/send these cards wherever you want (but please tag or message me if you do): drive.google.com/drive/folders/…
More cards are available on the Ukraine Explainers website: uaexplainers.com
Thanks! End of 🧵
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Seeing the fate of Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Maryinka and other towns makes you wonder: why would anyone kill a city? Isn’t occupation enough for Moscow?
The answer also holds the key to understanding Russia's logic of this war.
🧵1/
Killing a city is a lot of work that leaves you with an absurd result: a blank space on the map. Nothing in place of something.
So much discipline, intention and overtime work just to bleach a limited land area. This begs the question: Why?
Slavenka Drakulić had the answer.
2/
The Croatian journalist had a similar question when she wrote about Old Bridge (Stari Most), a 436-year-old bridge in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was destroyed by artillery of the Croatian Army in 1993.
When the protests were just starting as student movements, we would tie blue-yellow ribbons on our backpacks and coats to be more visible and promote our cause everywhere in Kyiv.
The police figured it out and started targeting us one by one.
1/6
The following week, numerous videos of police harassing people on the streets and even picking them from public transport popped up.
With the unleashed violence, the pro-Yanukovych minority and undercover cops caught up: people got attacked for wearing ribbons.
2/6
In Maidan circles, people were advised to stay in larger groups or hide their ribbons in public for personal safety.
Again: Ukrainian citizens living in Kyiv couldn’t wear ribbons the color of their state flag in public.
The anti-Ukrainian nature of the regime was clear.
3/6
The anatomy of shilling for Russia or how to spot the wordings of a Russian asset/useful idiot.
Let’s unpack Simon Jenkins’ @guardian outcry about NATO escalation to see how specific wordings expose a Russian propaganda asset.
These wordings go beyond just Simon.
A thread. 1/9
Simon says Germany sending Taurus is a “risky escalation”.
It’s not.
The UK and France already sent similar long-range systems, even the US sent a bit of their ATACMS.
Taurus would help Ukraine a lot. But it’s not a game changer or a new development.
2/9
Simon fears the Taurus story looks like the West is leading a proxy war with Russia via Ukraine.
He omits the fact that Russia openly admits it is already waging a war with the West via Ukraine — and it already uses hybrid warfare tactics and killings on the NATO soil. 3/9
A few words about @mashagessen's piece for @NewYorker talking about the "democracy in darkness in Ukraine" – mainly about the criticism it is getting from many Ukrainians.
Why are we angry and frustrated with this piece?
1/9
For starters, it's so tiresome to see big media outlets employing a Russian citizen – with unavoidable imperial biases and misconceptions about Ukraine – to explain Ukraine to the western world.
In 20-freaking-24.
The power dynamic of this reporting is just wrong.
2/
Gessen had frank conversations with many Ukrainians for this piece – some of them shared their deepest fears with the author.
But I'm pretty sure none of these people would want their comments to be used for a piece about some kind of democracy crisis in Ukraine.
3/
Russia invests heavily into a specific conspiracy claiming that Ukraine and Russia were on the brink of a peace deal in April 2022, but those efforts were stalled by the West.
I believe Kremlin will export this lie as its central propaganda narrative.
A short thread
1/11
Russia propaganda machine continuously tests various ideas and narratives to find potent lies that perform better at hijacking foreign discussions.
Kremlin’s international propaganda effort is much more consolidated and efficient than most people imagine.
2/
Some narratives stick, others don’t.
The “Bucha massacre was staged” lie was successful only within the circles of total lunatics — most people weren’t convinced given that Russia repeated the same genocidal pattern in many other parts of Ukraine.
3/