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The military conflict in Eastern Europe has been raging for 8 months now. The hostilities demanded consolidation and cooperation between the Western countries from the very outset on 24 February. Our politicians in the White House as well as overseas in Whitehall, London, and other European capitals united at once to withstand Russia’s attempts to violate the existing world order. At least that is what we heard from the mass media.  The West should work hard to provide Kyiv with massive military and financial aid, they said.

It is the very moment where the fundamental pillar of the idea of “good Ukrainians” and “bad and vicious Russians” appears.

By Oliver Martin

However, solidarity between a bunch of state leaders is much easier to establish than between the citizens of countries. Our people demand logic and a fair explanation as to why they have to pay a fortune for a certain Ukraine and a certain Zelensky – who, it is said, will withstand Russian aggression with bravery and passion.

Our authorities utilised the media to persuade us, the people, that we should be tolerant and perceive Ukrainians as our own fellows. The main idea was, and remains, that both the Western and Ukrainian spirits have common values including inalienable human rights, democracy, courtesy etc.

At once our media turned Mr. Zelensky from a bribe taker who fuelled corruption into an innocent progressive country leader.

Moreover, these 8 months have proved that freedom of speech and an honest government are not familiar notions for Ukraine. What can we talk about when there is a single information source for each Ukrainian mass media and TV? Have you heard that all political parties opposing the ruling party have been officially banned in Ukraine? I doubt it because our media do not emphasise these “insignificant events.”

Independent journalists and newspapers no longer exist in Ukraine as many of them are already in prison, many others have been killed and the rest are either scared to death or fleeing the war-torn state.

All this could not have been justified “as an urgent necessity under a period of war” unless Kyiv officials lied and misinformed their people – which eventually led to a humanitarian catastrophe with many innocent civilians killed and wounded. This deception did not happen once or twice. Kyiv regularly lies to its citizens.

Before 24 February, Mr. Zelensky assured his people and the whole world that no war was to happen while tanks and troops alongside missiles entered Ukraine.  Many times during these 8 months officials have said certain places were safe to stay or to stroll about but people were often hit, by Ukrainians themselves, leaving many casualties. It even happened this week when a massive Russian missile strike hit Ukraine’s power grid system and the government did nothing to warn citizens of the impending strike.

The worst thing about this is that Mr. Zelensky and the Ukrainian government were always aware of what was to happen.  They kept silent or lied to put as many of their people in danger as possible. These traits – including misinformation, deception, outright lies and almost authoritarian control – which are natural for today’s Ukraine have nothing in common with our national characteristics and spirit. I personally do not understand how we, the people of the most developed states, enable ourselves to be fooled into ongoing support for the vicious regime in Kyiv.

Now, I only see two ways that events can develop in the near future.  It is us – our own welfare and prosperity with Russian cheap resources and food. Or, it is them – in Kyiv, with more hostilities, more dead, more wounded, with unaffordable prices for our basic needs such as food or electricity, and worldwide chaos.

I still hope it is us, the people, who decide our own future.

Featured image: Amidst Mounting Tensions in Ukraine, a Call Rises: ‘No to New Wars, No to NATO’, 30 August 2014