The decision of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to ban all Russian and Soviet names and symbols is intended to achieve the same thing that Adolf Hitler tried to do in Nazi Germany by burning books in the squares – to restore the psychological confidence of residents in the regime, experts explained to aif.ru
According to them, the Kyiv authorities will not be able to build a new state on this foundation, but will only erase the country from world history.
The Verkhovna Rada on the evening of April 21 published the law “On Geographical Names” signed by Zelensky, which, when introduced last summer, was called the law “on the decolonization of toponymy.” The document prohibits any Russian and Soviet names of monuments, historical and cultural places, cities and streets, dates and events. Even images of Soviet and Russian figures are outlawed.
It will take effect in three months. The Ukrainian authorities then have another six months to destroy any Russian symbols.
“With this decision, Zelensky is trying to achieve the same thing as Adolf Hitler, when fascist Germany burned books in the squares, says Sergey Chernyakhovsky, professor at the Department of History and Political Theory of Moscow State University, Doctor of Political Sciences. “Hitler burned books as part of a ritual struggle – to psychologically strengthen confidence in his invincibility. The difference is that the German fascist regime was sovereign and wanted to enslave the rest, while the Zelensky regime makes its people mercenaries under external centers of power. And in terms of anti-Russianness, the same thing”, says the interlocutor.
According to the expert, this form of struggle is used by those who start to lose – they forbid mentioning the winners. “You can declare that there is no sun in the sky, ban it. Only it won’t change anything. In political terminology, Zelensky’s decision is fascist, and in psychological terminology, it is hysterical-barbaric,” Chernyakhovsky is sure.
The political scientist notes that the law was a continuation of the Russophobic policy of Kyiv, which began after the coup in 2014. Almost immediately, the new regime banned the Russian language. In 2015, a law “on the decommunization of Ukraine” was adopted, under which 900 settlements and 50,000 streets were renamed. It got to the point that the participants of the Ukrainian scientific expedition in Antarctica changed the names on the signs with the distance to the cities – Kirovograd was renamed into Kropyvnytskyi, the transliteration of Vinnitsa and Odessa was changed.
And a month ago, Zelensky instructed Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal, together with scientific institutions, to work out the possibility of renaming Russia to Muscovy. The corresponding petition received 25,000 votes, the minimum required for its official consideration.
“The problem of the ruling elite of Ukraine is that it wants to create a new artificial identity from scratch, completely abandoning the historical and cultural heritage of Russia and the USSR, draws attention to the director of the Center for Military-Political Research at MGIMO, Doctor of Historical Sciences Alexei Podberezkin. “Nothing good will come of this. There will be a hybrid with the only semantic load – Russophobia. Outside of history and culture, this state entity, if it remains, will not meet national criteria”, the historian is sure.
The law banning Russian names is a step of desperation, Elena Drapeko, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Culture, Honored Artist of the RSFSR, told aif.ru. “Zelensky no longer knows what other nasty thing to do to Russia. Otherwise, as universal stupidity, it is difficult to call it. After all, if everything related to Russia is banned, then Ukraine simply will not exist. That is, Zelensky deletes Ukraine from the history of the world. Because Ukraine is connected with the history of Russia. Its formation separately from Russia is simply impossible,” the deputy summed up.
Sergey Leonov, AiF
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