Main statements by Sputnik Belarus regarding Ukraine after February 24
Ukrainian statehood is in question
Sputnik Belarus stories have repeatedly argued that Ukrainian statehood will soon come to an end, at least in the form in which it existed before the start of the big war.
«Ukraine will cease to exist in the form in which we knew it. The question is where will the borders and spheres of influence go,» says one article. Another writes, «Ukraine needs a complete reboot of the elites. There needs to be a complete rotation of the puppet, pro-Western, oligarchic, and rotten regime.»
An article titled «Thirty Years of Ukrainian Ruin and Its Outcomes» states that the reconfiguring of statehood is logical, «since the Ukrainian authorities themselves turned a once prosperous country into a failed state with a wrecked economy, ruined businesses, a poor and fleeing population, and with Nazism as state ideology along with civil war.»
This story is full of sham emotional interpretations of Ukrainian history and statehood. It talks about «Hitler collaborators» in power since the early 1990s, about the «fantastically confused Russophobic focus» in school history textbooks, about Nazism as the «state ideology of Ukraine,» the Maidan of 2014 as an armed coup «under the direct leadership of U.S. military,» and about the «military occupation of Ukraine by NATO.»
«In less than a decade, the Ukrainian people will again become brotherly and friendly (remember post-war Poland and the GDR). Russia has fully adapted to the periods of aggression of the collective West over the past 800 years, and observes the current provocations with calm,» writes one article.
Another piece reflects on Ukraine’s future:
«Let’s assume that Ukraine will be divided because of the military operation. Wherever the new border runs, the western part of Ukraine will be the most heavily armed territory in Europe. Or maybe in the world, with Israel as its closest competitor in terms of armament and which is in a state of permanent military conflict. The eastern part will be under constant military pressure, and it will not be easy to guarantee a peaceful life for the suffering residents of the recognized DPR and LPR.»
Sputnik Belarus’s Anatoly Wasserman believes that Ukraine is a part of historical Russia and that it needs to be reunited with its other parts:
«The reintegration of that part of Russia that officially exists based on the old Polish false construct of ‘Ukraine-not-Russia’ will strengthen the ties of all other parts of Russia among themselves, as it will prove that it is at least dangerous to oppose the rest of the Russians. For me it is very unpleasant that my small homeland fell victim to political opportunists who set themselves the goal of bringing a bloody confrontation both within Ukraine and with the rest of Russia.»
The successful move of the «special operation»
Many stories from Sputnik Belarus claim that Russian military plans are proceeding as planned. One commentator on February 24 commented on the events as follows:
«I was told that almost 50% of Ukrainian troops simply fled. I understand them. We, Slavs, don’t want to fight with Slavs. If there will be casualties, we don’t want that either.» In addition, it is said that «militants began to come» to Belarus from neighboring Ukrainian regions.
«The operation of the Russian Armed Forces to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine is proceeding dynamically, effectively, and is an example of a network-centric organizing of operations… Russian troops demonstrate a fantastic level of combat training. They actively and simultaneously operate in almost all regions of Ukraine, where centralized control and support have disrupted the Armed Forces of Ukraine, large cities are blocked, and where there has been only localized resistance using civilians as ‘human shields,» one article wrote in describing the course of the military operation in early March.
The article also says that NATO’s operations in Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan «look pitiful» compared to Russia’s. The author predicts that the «operation» will probably end not even in Kyiv, but «in Lviv and on the Polish border» and that «Russia will end the war in the shortest possible time, and in a network-centric way sweep away everyone who stands in the way of lasting peace in Europe.»
«The Russian operation of demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine continues as planned. The territory controlled by the Kyiv regime is essentially cut off from sea routes and is continually being reduced… Resistance is pointless, especially since Russian troops do not intend to harm the civilian population or occupy Ukraine. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are cut off from air and sea routes,» maintains another article 10 days after the start of the war.
«The operational situation in Ukraine resembles a chess endgame, when there are still many pieces and pawns on the board, but the outcome of the game is clearly a foregone conclusion. At the request of their American masters, the Kyiv regime is simply playing for time and cynically spilling Slavic blood in the lead up to their inevitable capitulation on Moscow’s terms (as it simply cannot be otherwise, given that Russia has sacrificed too much in the Ukrainian proxy war with the U.S. and NATO),» says another military action article in Sputnik in summing up the results of the first month of the war.
Nazi ideology
False accusations of Ukraine being a Nazi state are frequently encountered in Sputnik Belarus stories. «We will totally avoid any danger only if the National Battalions and the Armed Forces of Ukraine are decisively and irrevocably defeated. These today are the same as Nazis in terms of ideology,» one article writes.
«The 2014 coup in Ukraine brought to power forces that over the past years have essentially carried out a reincarnation of Nazism. The current Russian special operation could reverse this process,» another article claims.
One of the commentators predicts a very long process of «denazification»: «After all, you remember what happened in Ukraine after the Patriotic War, when this fascist vermin was wiped out. Decades passed. And they have already raised a generation. This will be a difficult process that we must go through, but we all must understand what Holy Russia is.»
Undermining the Western economy
A story with the catchy title «Anti-Russian sanctions are killing the European economy» argues that «in an attempt to punish Russia, the alliance of Western countries, has at least sent its own industry and economy into a deep dive, if it hasn’t knocked them out completely.»
Sanctions will harm Western countries even more than Russia and undermine their financial systems, says another article: «The sanctions ‘apocalypse’ promised by the West will most likely undermine the world positions of the dollar and the euro as reserve currencies, while in Russia it will become a driver for restarting the entire financial system with an eye to strengthening economic sovereignty.»
A self-sufficient Russia is in a better position than a Europe dependent on Russian energy resources. Even if it manages to replace these resources, the «price tsunami» will hit the EU and the U.S. and «might bury the dollar,» the article explains. It predicts that the most difficult situation will be for the Baltic countries, «where the rent for a communal apartment can exceed an average salary.»
Another article discusses whether the collapse of the world food market and a «hurricane of hunger» is approaching, especially because of Lithuania’s ban on exporting Belarusian potash fertilizers.
«Any rejection of Russian gas means the death of many sectors of the European economy. Accordingly, an incredible amount of currency will flood the Russian economy. And if sales of metals, grain, and fertilizers for rubles follow, there will be even more options. In fact, the ruble can be strengthened almost without limit,» one guest wrote, predicting a good outlook for the Russian economy.
In addition, it is said that because of Western sanctions Belarus needs to switch to the Russian ruble.
The U.S. is dragging Europe into war
Often, Sputnik Belarus deems the actions of the European Union as dependent on the U.S., alleging that EU assistance to Ukraine comes in connection with pressure from Washington.
The article «The U.S. is throwing Europe under a tank» writes that «the Americans are consistently drawing Europe into an armed conflict with Russia by forcing the supply of heavy military equipment and specialists for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At the same time, the U.S. is cynically ‘winding up’ the Kyiv regime for a long and bloody war.» It predicts that Ukrainians will have to pay for loans for U.S. weapons «until the 22nd century (if Ukraine retains its statehood).»
«President Zelensky’s demand to U.S. Congress to provide Kyiv with S-300 systems, new shipments of Turkish Bayraktar attack drones to Ukraine, incendiary ‘flights’ of supposedly unguided Ukrainian UAVs over the territories of Eastern European countries of the alliance (still without chemical or biological weapons on board ) appear to be links in a chain of provocations organized by the Americans to draw NATO into hostilities with Russia,» says one piece. According to the article, NATO «is not ceasing its attempts to enter Independence Square.»
«A direct military confrontation between NATO and Russia in Ukraine virtually guarantees nuclear escalation and the end of the history of the U.S. and its European allies,» the article warns.
Ukraine as an anti-Russian tool
Many articles write about Ukraine as a Western object that is being used against Russia. As one of those interviewed claimed that «since the beginning of the 2000s, well-known experts have been saying that Ukraine is being prepared ‘for slaughter,’ setting before it the only task of becoming an anti-Russia. It has been desirable for the West that Russians fight against Russians, and it should be said that they achieved this, causing a huge flow of hatred among Ukrainians for their brothers, for their ancestors, and, essentially, for themselves.»
«Biden’s speech confirms that Washington’s main goal today is ‘regime change’ in Russia, and the military conflict in Ukraine serves as a tool to draw Russia into a debilitating war and a pretext for accusing the Russian leadership of ‘war crimes,’» one article states. It claims that Russia currently faces «an existential threat, like the Soviet Union in the late 1980s.»
«The crisis that has been building up in Ukraine for the past 8 years was supposed to spread to Belarus and weaken and even destroy Russia to the extent possible. To stop this multi-vector plan of the West, a special operation announced by Vladimir Putin in the Donbass was needed,» says one commenter.
Development of biological and chemical weapons
Many stories and comments from publications accuse Ukraine of developing banned biological weapons. According to one commentator, «It was absolutely impossible to tolerate a country filled with biological laboratories and Nazis, whose authorities, at the urging of the Anglo-Saxons, continually provoke Russia, incessantly saber-rattling and behaving insolently.»
It is also claimed that Western countries and Ukraine may use chemical weapons: «NATO specialists and their servants in the SBU are still preparing a performance using poisonous chemicals in Ukraine. This is according to the scheme worked out earlier in Iraq and Syria prior to launching massive strikes by American cruise missiles on the territory of the above-mentioned independent states.» In such a case, «hypersonic retaliation is irresistible» to the collective West, one story writes.
The events in Bucha are also described as a Ukrainian provocation. The publication «Bucha: an anti-Russian provocation with a triple bottom» maintained the following: «Executions of civilians are a signature of the Banderites. The provocative, criminal, and amateurish staging of the ‘Srebrenica in Bucha’ reminded us that the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the NSU, and the military were actively shooting each other in Kyiv and other settlements in Ukraine throughout March, outside the combat zone with Russian troops.»
Материал доступен на русском языке: Освещение российско-украинской войны в публикациях Sputnik Беларусь
