To the world - the party of peace - Newspaper Kommersant No. 10 (7455) of 01/20/2023

To the world - the party of peace - Newspaper Kommersant No. 10 (7455) of 01/20/2023



The Expert Institute for Social Research (EISI) held a round table on Thursday on the topic “Another Ukraine: who is in opposition to the Kyiv regime inside the country?”. Following the pro-Russian Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk, who put forward the thesis about “another Ukraine,” the participants in the discussion convinced the audience that the elite and society of the neighboring country were not united and that there was even a “party of peace” that Russia could use. However, experts of Ukrainian origin also voiced a less optimistic idea that the majority of Ukrainians are now anti-Russian because of the “natural patriotism” that awakened in them after the start of a special military operation.

The reason for the discussion was an article published this week in Izvestiya by Viktor Medvedchuk, chairman of the political council of the banned in Ukraine Opposition Platform-For Life (OPPL) party, in which he argued that since 1991 there have been two Ukraines: Ukraine is “anti -Russia" and Ukraine as "another Russia". But if this material was written in rather restrained tones, then representatives of the EISI (one of the main analytical centers of the Kremlin's domestic political bloc) were not shy about showing emotions. There were also arguments about “neo-Nazis”, who, according to experts, are also not united and who should be wary of “Polish dungeons”, and theses that a “planned presidential dictatorship” has been introduced in Ukraine, and even such characteristics of the Ukrainian security forces as “ maniac" and "imbecile".

“What is the peace party? What is the war party? Who will win in the end?" - the moderator of the round table, political scientist Pavel Danilin, set the ideological framework for the discussion. Political scientist Kirill Molchanov, who left Ukraine, was the first to answer these questions: “What is another Ukraine? This is the Ukraine that voted for Zelensky in 2019 (Vladimir Zelensky, President of Ukraine.— "b"), who initially said that Ukraine was fed up with Poroshenko's policies (Petr Poroshenko, ex-president of Ukraine.— "b"), who built an anti-Russian state with the aim of eternal war with Russia. The expert also referred to the "other" refugees who left for Russia, but would like to return to Ukraine, and those who go to anti-war rallies. At the same time, Ukrainians who adhere to the position of peace are not represented by any speakers in the political establishment, Mr. Molchanov stated.

The theme of "splits" in Ukrainian society was continued by a former Ukrainian journalist, and now a columnist for the portal "Ukraina.ru" Volodymyr Skachko. But, having reached the story of the “working class”, which is “crushed, demoralized and has no social prospects,” he suddenly made a not very optimistic conclusion: “They are now anti-Russian, they don’t hate, but they are militantly against Russia. Played something that did not pay attention, natural patriotism played: the country was attacked. For 30 years, Ukrainians have become accustomed to perceive Ukraine as their own country. If someone attacks her, a lot of people get natural patriotism.”

Other roundtable participants immediately tried to correct this thesis by emphasizing that Ukrainian society is not monolithic. “This is unity on bayonets, this is the appearance of unity, which is ensured by the media and a tough repressive apparatus,” Alexander Dudchak, a leading researcher at the Institute of CIS Countries, described public sentiment in Ukraine. “Visible unity in Ukraine, held on bayonets, is disappearing. Because the meaning of participation in the conflict has disappeared,” Pavel Danilin supported him. “More and more people will think: what is this trouble in which we plunged? The other Ukraine is the real Ukraine. The one in the interests of which to be together with Russia,” Vladimir Shapovalov, director of the Institute of History and Politics of the Moscow State Pedagogical University, finally returned the discussion to a positive direction.

After the round table, Kommersant asked Mr. Danilin to clarify whether there is a "party of peace" and a "party of war" in our country. “In Russia, the peace party is almost total. The war party is a small group of people that can be easily identified,” the political scientist assured, explaining that peace did not come only because all the efforts of the Russian “peace party” are collapsing due to the actions of the Ukrainian leadership.

Russian political consultant Yevgeny Minchenko, who did not participate in the EISI round table, on the contrary, believes that it is incorrect to talk about the “party of peace” either in Russia or in Ukraine: “Without an obvious military victory of one of the parties, peace is impossible. Therefore, in Russia, I would talk about the “freeze party”, but in Ukraine it no longer exists.” The parties cannot agree on a suspension of the conflict, because disagreements begin already at the stage of agreeing on the parameters of a truce, the expert is sure: the West and Ukraine believe that victory is possible, and Russia believes that a more advantageous line of demarcation must first be drawn for negotiations.

Ukrainian political scientist, author of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Konstantin Skorkin, in turn, notes that there is no room left for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine - at least in its former form: “Back in the spring of 2022, the Ukrainian authorities banned a number of pro-Russian parties, including HSE. Nevertheless, most of the members of her faction in the Verkhovna Rada (it consisted of 43 deputies.— "b") retained its mandates. The exceptions were quite odious ones like Viktor Medvedchuk or Ilya Kiva, who now constantly performs on Russian television shows. And all those who remained in the Verkhovna Rada obediently vote for all the decisions of the Servant of the People (the party of supporters of Volodymyr Zelensky.— "b"), which makes further pressure on them simply unprofitable.” As a vivid example, Mr. Skorkin cited businessman Vadim Novinsky, who was a deputy of the Rada from the Opposition Bloc: “During the offensive of Russian troops on Mariupol, all his assets in the city were destroyed. As a result, he donated tens of millions of dollars to the Ukrainian army. At the same time, he is not just a person of pro-Russian views, but also a deacon of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. But he is unlikely to be a conductor of Moscow's interests.”

Andrey Vinokurov, Kirill Krivosheev



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