In the past few days, angry nationalist mobs (peaceful protesters according to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister) attacked the Russian Embassy in Kiev several times. They demand the release of Nadezhda Savchenko, a member of the notorious swastika-waving national guard battalion Aidar, accused of killing civilians, including Russian journalists, during the so-called anti-terrorist operation in Donbass. Today she is standing trial in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don.
A prominent Russian journalist, part-time conservative politician, who coined the term “Russian Spring” during the 2014 anti-putsch movements in the Crimea and Donbas explains:
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How come hooligans easily penetrate the Embassy compound that is supposed to be protected by the host country?
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Why is there international pressure (including personal sanctions against the Russian president proposed by some MEPs) to free a person accused of committing war crimes?
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What makes Russian ‘liberals’ side with Ukrainian nationalists?
Worldwide, embassies are considered a part of a country’s sovereign territory. Attacking one is an act of aggression.
The attacks on the Russian Embassy in Kiev could destroy relations between Russia and the Ukraine, if there were any. First, there was the energy blockade of the Crimea by terrorists, then the blockade of roads leading from Russia to Europe – as the government grinned mockingly: “We can’t control them. We can’t do anything”.
A grin would be appropriate coming from a ‘failed’ state like Somalia, but not from a ‘European power’ that claims a European identity. Of course it’s just hypocrisy, but leaving the anti-Russian actions without punishment, particularly the attacks on the Embassy, can only mean that the government supports them.
The same is true of the coordination between the stones thrown at the Embassy to screams of: “To Nadya!” and the virtual stones thrown by the Russian pro-Ukrainian opposition.Leonid Gozman said himself that even those who say “Crimea is ours” consider Nadezhda Savchenko a heroine.
So why did they rush to such a furious psychological attack “To Nadya!” in coordination with the Right Sector?
‘Humanism’ and such have nothing to do with that. It’s important both for Kiev and the Moscow opposition not to let the court deliver a verdict. They can’t stand the idea that the destructive policies carried out by the likes of Savchenko could be convicted in a Russian court. It’s unbearable for them that such cases would fall under Russian jurisdiction.
This problem is not getting the recognition it deserves. There are persons and organizations functioning legally and seamlessly that identify with the killing of children and Russian journalists.
Of course Russia has also made a mistake in that Savchenko’s case is isolated; there aren’t dozens and hundreds of ‘Nadya’s’ of all sexes, ages and military ranks brought to justice. That those fat artillerists, who killed the ‘Madonna of Gorlovka’ and dozens of other children in the Donbass, are not rotting in Russian prisons. It’s the isolation of the Savchenko case that allows a spotter who helped kill civilians, including journalists, to be made a heroine and a martyr . It’s a killer that’s being judged.