PROXIES OF TYRANNY OR PUTIN'S "PEACEMAKERS"

 

After the start of the war, when Russia invaded Ukraine, we came across many posts from organizations and individuals in Europe, that spread propaganda in favor of Russia. Russian propaganda is a representation of so-called black propaganda when the majority of the facts, if not all, are tuned from top to bottom to suit the Kremlin’s intentions. The type of propaganda from the organizations in Europe that in one way or other support the Russian government is mostly gray. In this case, one starts with facts that really happened, but then changes the direction of discussion or delivery of information from the real problem/origin of the problem to a completely different agenda. By changing the focus, the manipulator distracts the public from an attempt to solve a problem and buys time, in this case, for Kremlin to commit the crimes without any consequences.

Most of the organizations/individuals mentioned above pose themselves as “peacemakers”. Noble intention, but what is in reality? It would be good to break down the approach of manipulation they use to remind ourselves about the danger amidst the war that is raging in Europe. Let's debate against an article that is a collection of narratives from “peacemakers”. Where would they start? Most likely they would say that they agree with arguments from European Commission, US and NATO regarding the crisis in Ukraine. The word “crisis” is used intentionally, one should avoid using the word “war”, because it is too negative and it will make harder to change the agenda later. Further, “peacemakers” even will express their sadness about people dying, but this is where the good things end.

Now, when we are predisposed to the writer, it is time to change the agenda. How would you do that? One of the best methods is to make a reader feel guilty or afraid. Let us show you several arguments they would use. “Supporting Ukraine only prolongs the conflict. We need to accept russian terms or you want more people to die? Or you want to support the killings?”. “The society has built such a good world after the Second World War. Do you want to endanger it by supporting the continuation of the conflict? End it now!”. And a classic narrative: “If we do not accept russian terms, we will all die in a nuclear annihilation.” At this moment, if we feel guilt or fear, then we are falling into the manipulator’s trap. We open up our consciousness and leave it unprotected. If no reaction or reflection follows from us, the manipulator can control our feelings and direct thoughts in the direction he/she wants.

Let us take a closer look at every one of those narratives. We begin with the first one: “Supporting Ukraine only prolongs the conflict. We need to accept russian terms or you want more people to die? Or you want to support the killings?”. Every Ukrainian would like to stop the war today and have peace. But does Kremlin want peace? “Peacemakers” want Ukraine to accept Kremlin terms. Is it really peace? We all know what happens when russian army comes. People are tortured and killed only because they are Ukrainians, women and children are raped. In addition, all crimes are done by the russian army with a feeling of pleasure. For those, who did not see or forgot, here is a link to the resource where crimes are being collected and presented for international community.

This type of peace “peacemakers” want. Peace of the expense of Ukrainian lives. Ukraine lived in peace before February 2014 when Russia invaded Crimea. Ukrainian army did not fire a single short in Crimea trying to avoid any escalation. Did it lead to peace? No, it led to the Russian invasion into Donbas region. For eight years, there were negotiations with Russian government to find a peaceful agreement. Did it help? No, it led to full-scale war in 2022. You can not negotiate with the aggressor, it just does not work. Recall what happened in 1938 when Hitler was appeased with the Munich Agreement. It led to a huge war and enormous losses of lives. Ask any detective what happens if a serial killer is left unpunished and law enforcement even do not try to stop him or her. They will tell you, for sure, that maniacs are going to kill more. The past of human civilization shows us clearly - you do not negotiate with maniacs, you stop them.

The second narrative: “The society has built such a good world after Second Wolrd War. Do you want to endanger it by supporting the continuation of the conflict? End it now!” It is really great that “peacemakers” mention Second World War, but they forget to tell a key part. Millions of soldiers sacrificed themself, so we can leave in peace. There is even a saying to remember the fallen: “Never again”. Meaning we, as worldwide society, need to perform preventive actions to avoid the horrors of that war. But did we really do that? Did we try to stop the current war from coming? Russian state, as we know it, did not appear in one day. In fact, there were decades when Russia committed crimes without any consequences. Wars in Moldova and Georgia in early 90-ties of the previous century, two wars in Ichkeria, then again invasion to Georgia, war in Syria, Crimea, Donbas. Maybe we even forgot some war. Did we, as worldwide society, try to stop Russia? On the contrary, we help it. One example is heaven that Western countries created to launder money for Russian elites. There are two links here as a starter for you to dive into this topic which requires separate coverage, because of importance to European democracy and complexity of the problem. A link to Transperancy International report and the link to the report from The Netherlands Helsinki Committee.

Now, let us take Russian elite perspective on the situation before the full-scale war in Ukraine. They look at it and think. Hey, we commit crimes, kill people and what are the consequences? We got our money cleaned. Not bad, huh?

By the way, our friends “peacemakers” are being fed from that money as well. My question to them: “How much human freedom and dignity costs?”

The last and the most ultimate narrative from “peacemakers” and Kremlin is about nuclear weapons, the last resort so to say: “If we do not accept russian terms, we will all die in a nuclear annihilation.”. Assume that we actually accepted russian terms and then what? It will result in the race of countries getting nuclear weapons and to a chaos in the whole world. See, in 1994, Ukraine together with other countries, who at that time possessed nuclear weapons, signed a document in Budapest called Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances. As part of this document, Ukraine gave up the third nuclear arsenal in the world for the security guarantees in return. Guess who was one of the countries who signed the document? You already know it – Russian Federation. A guarantor who promised to protect you and then instead invaded. The best promotion for nuclear disarmament, isn’t it? If we accept russian nuclear threats now, that is the end for any kind of international law and agreements. All dictators in the world will treat international law as toilet paper. The best law is a nuclear stick, get it and every whim is satisfied. Only a punishment of the perpetrator, Russian Federation, can bring the trust to international law.

Getting back to “peacemakers”. After making you feeling guilty and afraid they will attempt to substitute the war topic with another problem. The best joker nowadays is a climate problem. Now see, it is a real problem and the world should address it as fast as possible. There is no discussion about this. The way we exploited our planet during the last two or three centuries is unacceptable. However, it has no connection to the current war. Or any other problem “peacemakers” will give to you. The only aim is to distract your attention from the war where, without any exaggeration, the fate of Europe for the current century is decided. Should the Ukrainian Armed Forces fail and a fascist regime is allowed to march through the European plain, climate will be the last problem we have. The war seems to be a long one, and worldwide society should be alert to the attempts of Russian proxies to influence public opinion if we want to save the world we are living in.