Boris Nadejdin, deputy of the Duma in the Moscow region, contradicts the Kremlin’s claim that the Ukrainian government led by Volodymyr Zelensky is “Nazi”, preferring to call it anti-Russian.
In an interview with Lusa in Moscow, Nadejdin rejected the associations of the governments of Zelensky and his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, with fascism and Nazism, not least because the current president is Jewish.
“The true nature of the Ukrainian regime is European in a sense, albeit with certain ‘insects’ in mind: like any country gaining independence from the empire, in this case the Soviet regime, it clings to its national myths ,” Nadejdin said. .
The Russian delegate is particularly critical of the apologies made by the authorities in Kiev by historical figures such as Stepan Bandera (1909-1959), leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and its armed wing, the Ukrainian Revolutionary Army, who are widely regarded in countries such as Poland. accused of collaborating with Nazi troops.
Buried in Munich, where he would die, Bandera is a celebrated figure of Ukrainian nationalism, with statues in his honor in several cities, and even philatelic editions bearing his likeness.
The Duma deputy compares Kiev’s replacement of Russian symbols with Ukrainians to the context of the Algerian War of Independence, when the Algerian people tried to get rid of French symbols.
“I don’t see the Ukrainian power showing a desire to get rid of any other ethnicity or skin color, but rather a desire to get rid of everything Russian,” says Nadejdin.
“Both Russians and Ukrainians want to label the other party as much as possible. For all these reasons, it is not right to impose Nazi status on Ukraine. Also in the West there are voices that there are fascist organizations in Russia, complete nonsense.”, advances.
The Russian delegate also spares no criticism of Western leaders and the Minsk Accords, signed between Russia and Ukraine in 2014 to try to pacify the disputed Donbass region, under French, German and Belarusian mediation.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s recent statements that the agreements would only have been used to allow Ukraine to “buy time” – which has been interpreted by critical sectors of the West as a tool for the country to arm itself – are being also recalled by Boris Nadejdin.
“The West has never been fair, each country has always pursued its own goals. Since the overthrow of the president [Viktor]Yanukovych [pró-russo], each devoted himself to the realization of his interests. After the fall of Yanukovych, moral and financial support for opponents of the Ukrainian government became apparent. It’s the pure truth,” he said.
“In the course of the conflict, since 2014, the personalities involved have changed their discourse so many times, that I do not believe that this is Merkel’s last version. The reality is that this will only be written by historians, when this is all about how the conflict will be ended and what relationship between Russia and the West will be established,” he added.
War put Russia in “very delicate situation”
The war in Ukraine was “ill-conceived” and put Russia in a “very delicate situation”, which it could leave with a new leadership after the 2024 election, opposition deputy Boris Nadejdin believed.
He stated that developments in Ukraine since the start of the so-called “special military operation”, on February 24, 2022, show that “it was poorly thought through”, and that “it was initially assumed that Ukraine did not”. offer great resistance” to the advance of the Russian armed forces.
“The progress of the Russian troops was easy. It was also thought that the Ukrainian population would remain neutral or support the arrival of Russian troops. That was also assumed [o presidente ucraniano Volodymyr] Zelensky would not stay in power,” the deputy said.
“It became clear to everyone, not only people like me who were critical from the beginning of the operation, but also to people who supported the operation from the beginning, that something was going wrong. The truth is that Russia is in a very bad situation was delicate,” emphasized Nadejdin.
At the age of 59, the opposition politician, one of the most active against the Kremlin, is the founder and chairman of the Regional Projects and Legislation Foundation, as well as a doctoral student in physical-mathematical sciences.
Since Russia is subject to strict laws that impose severe penalties on anyone who goes against the official version of the “special military operation” and classifies anyone as “foreign agents” defending democracy or human rights in the country, Nadejdin makes it a point of against Lusa, a foreign medium, insist that this is “an internal affair of Russia”.
For Nadejdin, the invasion was “a big mistake, the consequences of which will be felt for a long time”.
“I believe that the conflict will be resolved through the action of the Russian people, without any foreign interference. I hope that when called upon to vote in elections next year, the people will choose other leaders who will take a different direction. to give.” to military events Is this the best possible scenario? said Lusa.
Asked whether it would be possible to avoid this conflict, Nadezhdin defended that a year ago “it never occurred to anyone” that the Russian army would enter Ukrainian territory, something the Kremlin also denied until the last minute.
“Of course, Donbass was under more or less intense artillery fire, but no one foresaw military action of this magnitude. The decision was made by Putin. Even an expert would not have predicted that Russia would strike deep into Ukraine. Perhaps Putin was in office .more information than us, to have chosen such a decision,” the politician emphasized.
Besides no one expecting the resistance of the Ukrainian troops or the negative reaction of the population to the conflict, the reaction of the West was also a surprise, he added.
“Never before has the western part shown itself so consolidated against Russia,” Boris Nadejdin told Lusa.
Source: DN
