Russia... and special operation-like politics

The Ukrainian representatives have asked the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group to hold a Skype conference on December 14, devoted to a single issue, it being the release of hostages. First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Iryna Herashchenko made it known on December 13.

The public, meanwhile, is actively discussing the actions and statements of Nadia Savchenko. “Savchenko’s trip to Minsk and meetings with terrorist leaders are within her rights as an individual, but not as a public office holder,” former prisoner of the so-called “Luhansk People’s Republic” Anatolii Poliakov commented for The Day. “Any direct meetings with the terrorists only work to legalize them in the eyes of the international community. To Europeans, it looks like the war in Donbas is exclusively an internal Ukrainian conflict.”

This is precisely the Kremlin’s intent. On December 13, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the participation of Russia in the negotiations between Savchenko and Ihor Plotnytsky and Oleksandr Zakharchenko, and said: “In this case, such contacts enjoy no international or any other official status, but, of course, the Russian side has always been willing to talk with anyone who wants such a dialog.” That is, despite the fact that the Kremlin unleashed war against Ukraine, Russia has positioned itself above the fray, saying “this is your problem, so you have to resolve it among yourselves first.”

Meanwhile, journalists of the Hroshi project, broadcast by the 1+1 TV channel, seizing the occasion and employing some Russian prankers’ technique, called Savchenko and asked her a few questions. Posing as pro-Russian militants, they proposed that Savchenko open an “embassy of the people’s republics” in Kyiv, disguised as a cultural center. A video distributed by the journalists shows that Savchenko agreed to the proposal.

She later denied agreeing to open an “embassy of the people’s republics.” According to Savchenko, the exchange dealt with the creation of a “press center.” “I said that if they wanted to be heard, we could start talking. Let us do this project: let children talk. You will record broadcasts at your place, Ukraine will do the same here. You show our broadcasts there, we show yours here. For example, so that we could see how children celebrate the New Year. When watching videos of children’s festive parties, one will not fail to notice that the kindergarteners’ New Year across Ukraine differs only in that Leopolitans install an angel figurine, while eastern Ukrainians prefer a star, but children celebrate it the same way otherwise,” the MP said.

SOCIAL WEBSITES IMMEDIATELY RESPONDED NOT ONLY TO NADIA SAVCHENKO’S LATEST DEMARCHES, BUT ALSO TO HER NEW ATTIRE. FOR EXAMPLE, ANDRII KAUFMAN WROTE IN FACEBOOK: “SAVCHENKO’S CLOTHES IS FSB’S CRUDE WORKMANSHIP. THIS IS THE WAY THEY PICTURE A ‘KHOKHOL’ HETMAN WITH A PAPAKHA ON” / Screenshot from ZIK TV channel

Of course, Savchenko is exploiting sensitive issues which are seen as important by the Ukrainian public. So the question is, are there enough healthy forces in society not to let this genie escape the bottle? Meanwhile, external appearance of Savchenko when she faced reporters in Sofiiska Square in Kyiv during her press conference on December 12 prompted various associations among the public. These associations ranged from Ivan Tsarevich of the Russian folklore, as painted by Viktor Vasnetsov in his Magic Carpet, to Huliaipole of Nestor Makhno and ataman Maria Nikiforova. Meanwhile, such use of the legacy of the age of atamans, which brought ruin to Ukraine, makes one suspect that people who are constructing Savchenko’s image are striving to get our “collective unconscious” back to the period of anarchy (read – ungovernability, and thus ultimately submission to foreign influence).

Out of the top officials, Herashchenko has been the only one to respond. Previously, she reported that the Donbas militants still held 109 Ukrainian citizens captive, including both soldiers and civilians. Meanwhile, Herashchenko lately posted on Facebook: “It is not Ukraine that blocks the release of hostages. All our compromise proposals (including one to exchange 228 eligible people for 48 Ukrainian prisoners who have been confirmed as such by the Donetsk and Luhansk militants) have been met with negative answers from the de facto authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk... Why is it so? Do they even care to get 228 people who they asked about back home for these New Year holidays? Where else has the Ukrainian side erred? The only answer is: we have not surrendered Ukraine, have not promised to vote for an amnesty now, and thus the Kremlin has been blocking the release of hostages and using them to blackmail Ukraine.”

It is quite possible as well that having calculated psychological characteristics of Savchenko, the Russians can use her to undermine the unity of the Ukrainian negotiating position, or generally as a tool to implement their plans for Ukraine, including undermining the situation from within, aimed at the national capitulation.

“As for the participation of the Kremlin in actions of Savchenko and other politicians who often visit Russia and are in favor of a ‘special status’ for the Donbas, it is an obvious fact,” says Poliakov. “Russia has great influence with the political and economic elite of Ukraine. I do not rule out that it will release some prisoners to Savchenko or she will be able to agree on some format of the exchange. This will show the world that through direct dialog, Ukraine and the de facto authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk were able to get our soldiers released. And Savchenko will not be seen at fault, on the contrary, she will be seen as a heroine by the prisoners’ mothers and wives. It is, above all, those who still fail to show political will, who are at fault. Are we officially at war? Have we officially recognized some districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as occupied territories? Have we imposed martial law in the warzone? Have we severed diplomatic relations with Russia and stopped any economic cooperation? Have its banks lost their licenses? No!”

“Maybe it sounds too strong, but Savchenko has become a threat to the national security and defense of this country,” MP and chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security and Defense Yurii Bereza commented for The Day. “She is a torpedo without a warhead, which the enemy has launched into our rear area. We all are at fault here. All who used every means to overtly promote her heroic image. Yes, we did it sincerely, because we wanted to release this Ukrainian citizen from captivity. I think that after her release, the first thing that Savchenko should have done do was to undergo a polygraph examination, because we cannot rule out the possibility of the enemy recruiting her while she was held in a Russian prison. She is now effectively in care of Viktor Medvedchuk, who had Vladimir Putin as the godfather of his daughter. Medvedchuk is a pretty good lawyer and absolutely understands that her actions are not criminally liable.”

Let us recall that earlier, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security and Defense sent a number of questions to head of the Security Service of Ukraine Vasyl Hrytsak, asking him to respond to MP Savchenko’s visit to Minsk, in particular, by commissioning a legally required assessment of her actions and deciding whether to launch a criminal investigation into them.

“Savchenko has said that she is fighting for the freedom of our prisoners, but so far none of them has been released because of her actions. Instead, she has harmed the authority of the Ukrainian state,” Bereza continued. “The problem lies also in the fact that Ukrainians remember how much of their spiritual strength and effort went into getting Savchenko released, and now because of this major disappointment, people have plunged even deeper into despair, which has affected the strength of public pressure needed for further prisoner releases. In fact, Savchenko is a product of confusion and uncertainty which reigns in this country. The vagueness of the government’s wording and position provides background for manipulating people’s consciousness and creating various kinds of provocations, media and otherwise.”