Society & Politics

Russia and the Ukraine crisis understanding Russia's perspective [part 1]

QuestionMan

Preface


As stated by popular demand I will write myTake about Russia and its role in the Ukrainian crisis from the Russian perspective and then write my conclusion about the conflict as a whole. This is part 1, there will be other parts so feel free to follow me so you can see when I post part 2. This conflict is really personal for me since I am a Ukrainian currently living in Canada and I still have relatives in Ukraine. The region of Ukraine that I am from is 200 km outside Donetsk and is under government control. My dad actually studied at a university in Donetsk before I was born.


I have been keeping up with the news about the conflict from Western sources, Russian sources and Ukrainian sources. The Western and Ukrainian sources paint a similar picture but when I look at Russian sources I see something completely different. The only Russian media source that is available in English is called Russia Today, the rest are all in Russian so I figured I’d give you all a chance to see something that you usually don’t since I am fluent in Russian.


This myTake will show you what the Russian media tells its people and the world, where they are right and where they are wrong. I’m sorry it took so long to get it up, I’ve been really busy.


Since most of you will get bored quickly if I don’t make it brief, I will try my best to include as much as possible and make it easy to understand. If you want more details on anything state so in the comments.


Let's begin


To understand Russia you must first realize that America and Russia are very alike. Both sides are very patriotic and each has its own flaws. When America goes to war, be it in Afghanistan, Iraq or Libya the government claims that it is to help the people living there and to create a democratic government. When Russia goes to war it is for "the protection of Russian speaking people". This happened in Moldova, Georgia and now Ukraine. However unlike the American invasions where very few people want them there, the Russians get a lot of local support.


Russia and the Ukraine crisis understanding Russia's perspective [part 1]


Soviet Nostalgia


Ok this is a really big one and is the reason for all of Russia’s conflicts. A lot of people in Russia miss the Soviet Union so much so that if you turn on any Russian channel the news anchor can't go 10 minutes without mentioning something about the Soviet Union; whether it is a Soviet actor, musician, something that happened in the Soviet Union or most notably the Great Patriotic War.




The Great Patriotic War for those of you that are unaware is a whitewashed version of World War 2. It does not mention the Soviet invasion of Poland, Finland and the Baltic states. It starts on June 22 1941 when the Soviet Union was invaded by Nazi Germany and ends on May 9 1945 (May 8 is Victory in Europe Day but it was May 9 by Moscow time). Every family in the Soviet Union had lost someone to that war so it's a pretty big deal. Most people from the Soviet generation tend to see the Soviet Union through rose coloured glasses. They focus on things such as: free high quality education (which resulted in great scientific achievements), free health care, great athletic achievements, free summer camps, guaranteed housing and employment and most importantly conservative values (almost identical to 1950s USA). These things quickly disappeared after the collapse of the Soviet Union. To this day people in Russia still see Gorbachev as a traitor. When Yeltsin came to power it was as if Russia was having a going out of business sale. Companies and everything that used to be under government control was practically given away on a first come first serve basis. This is how the Russian mafia gained a lot of control and a lot of rich Russian oligarchs were made practically overnight.





The church also came back since the anti-theist policies of the Soviet Union had vanished. It has become a very powerful force in Russia. When people speak of the return of the Soviet Union, they speak of an improved religious tolerant version not the exact same one that failed. That is why at any chance Russia gets to “protect the local Russian speaking population” they take it.


Ukraine as a part of Russia


Ever since the late 18th century Catherine the Great had conquered most of modern day Ukraine as well as Crimea which was an independent nation at the time, Russification (removing some locals and replacing them with Russians and forcing the rest to only speak Russian) had begun. Russification was continued under the Soviet Union as part of their campaign to make Russian the lingua franca. Today the impact is seen on Ukraine’s eastern provinces which are predominantly Russian speaking while the western provinces have maintained their Ukrainian heritage since for most of their history their language rights were not oppressed. I myself am from the east, which is why I speak Russian but not Ukrainian. The Ukrainian and Russian culture are very similar, especially since a lot of influences came from Russia. This is why the east which historically has been a part of Russia wants to cling on to the past.


Russia and the Ukraine crisis understanding Russia's perspective [part 1]




A divorce and a marriage


That’s how people see the separation of Ukraine and Russia and Ukraine’s attempt to become a part of the EU. Not everyone in Ukraine especially in the east is over the break up. They see their ties with Russia as something that needs to be restored while others wish to move on towards the EU.


Russia and the Ukraine crisis understanding Russia's perspective [part 1]


The conflict according to Russia


Here’s something all sides agree on, the conflict started after Yanukovich decided to sign a deal for closer economic ties with Russia since he could not meet the EU requirements for closer integration. There were a number of criteria that needed to be met such as economic reforms and fighting corruption.


Russia and the Ukraine crisis understanding Russia's perspective [part 1]


Since he couldn’t solve the former without first fixing the latter (which would involve giving back money he stole) he decided to do the next best thing and sign a deal with Russia in order to get a much needed loan.




Here’s where the views diverge. According to Russia, the Euromaidan protestors were funded by the West whose goal was to bring down Yanukovich’s government in order to integrate Ukraine in NATO. The Russian media highlighted the fact that the police was also being shot at by snipers and that whoever was shooting the protestors must not have been a police officer, as gathered from a Berkut recording in which they were trying to identify who was shooting at the protestors. There was a special inquiry done by the Ukrainian parliament which came to the conclusion that an unknown third party was involved in shooting both protestors and police officers since the bullets used in the murders did not match those used by Berkut.


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/rbth/politics/10857920/ukraine-murder-maidan.html


Russia however claims that this unknown third party was the Right Sector and that the current Ukrainian government is a military junta that came to power through a coup d’etat.


The “fascist” Right Sector


Russia and the Ukraine crisis understanding Russia's perspective [part 1]


Let’s start by defining what fascism is, because most people especially Russians don’t know what it is. It’s like socialism for Americans; people don’t really know what it is they just know that it’s bad because their government said so.


Fascism - a system of government that is highly conservative, is typically organized in an authoritarian way, has a capitalist economy subject to strict governmental controls, has a violent suppression of the opposition, and typically a policy of hostile nationalism and racism. It is supported and empowered by military and paramilitary forces that dedicate their loyalty to the ideology of the state.


It’s difficult to determine whether or not Right Sector is fascist since they qualify for some criteria but not others. They are highly conservative, nationalistic and are both a paramilitary group and a political organization. According to their official website (this is a translation from Ukrainian to English):



What is the "Right sector"?

The national liberation movement "Right sector" is an organized movement whose goal is the national liberation of Ukraine from external and internal occupation and establishing government.

The mission of the movement is the obtaining and development of the Ukrainian Independent Collegial State – the nation state of Ukrainians, by the national revolution. The leader of the movement is Dmitry Yarosh.



To be continued

Russia and the Ukraine crisis understanding Russia's perspective [part 1]
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