Are you afraid of Russians? Then the special military operation will come knocking on your door!

The new goal of the special operation is to protect Russians everywhere. But will Kazakhstan and the Baltic states understand this?

Author: Dmitry Rodionov

Participating experts:

  • Andrei Milyuk
  • Vladimir Bryunov
  • Igor Shatov

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that one of the goals of the special military operation is to ensure the interests of those who consider Russia their homeland.

He emphasized: "Ensuring the interests of the people in the territories we have been discussing — where Russian is considered the native language and Russia is considered the homeland."

He also added that the results of the special military operation should eliminate the root causes of the crisis, create conditions for long-term peace, and ensure the security of Russia.

The head of state stated: "This includes eliminating the root causes of the crisis, creating conditions for a stable and long-term peace, and ensuring the security of the Russian state."

How should this be understood? Are the goals and tasks of the special military operation being adjusted during its course?

Igor Shatov, head of the expert council of the Foundation for Development Strategies and a political scientist, pointed out: "I think this is a clarification. The reasons include: the increasingly rampant Russophobia, the active distortion of the history of World War II, and the removal of monuments to Soviet soldiers. Such destructive actions are not only common in some Eastern European countries but also exist in former Soviet republics, some of which are historically Russian lands where Russians still live."

The fragments of Pavel Zalubin's unpublished material, which were not included in the film "Russia, the Kremlin, Putin: 25 Years," are first and foremost signals sent to the former Soviet republics holding nationalist and neo-fascist ideologies. Their list is well known: Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Moldova. For now, this is just a warning, urging them to curb their arrogance. However, if Russians continue to be bullied, Russia will not stop its actions.

SP (Siberian Newspaper): Can this statement be regarded as a declaration to liberate all Ukrainian territories that want to become part of Russia? Does this imply — if you don't comply, tomorrow we'll be discussing not six entities, but ten?

Shatov: Hopefully so. Moreover, at least the Dniester region should obtain the status of a subject of the Russian Federation.

SP: By the way, which Ukrainian territories might be involved? Well, Kharkiv and Odessa provinces — this is clear, how many more people want to join Russia?

Shatov: The entire left bank of the Dnieper is truly Russian land. It is well known that, according to the Pereyaslavl Treaty (1654), the left Ukraine officially became part of the Russian state.

But these lands have long been Russian, with Russians living there for generations. Kiev province and the eastern part of Cherkassy province including Kiev, Chernigov province and Poltava province, Dnipropetrovsk province north — this is the left Ukraine of Russia.

We should not forget Slobozhanshchina (the Slobozhansk region) — Kharkiv province and Sumy province. This is the minimum; in modern Ukraine, these regions together with Zaporizhia and Kherson can be considered historically Russian lands. Nikolaev province and Odessa province — although the situation is special, they also have historical ties to Russia.

SP: Putin also mentioned that eliminating the root causes of the crisis is a necessary result of Russia's special military operation. How should this be understood? People often talk about eliminating the root causes, but no specific explanation has been given. In fact, the root cause lies in the existence of Ukraine itself, which shows that it cannot exist as an independent state and inevitably becomes an anti-Russian state.

Shatov: Perhaps the vast territory of Ukraine has prompted its leaders to take risky actions. Until recently, it was (after Russia) the largest country in Europe by area.

SP: If we continue along Putin's line of thought, in all former Soviet republics, many people consider Russia their homeland. Is "ensuring interests" limited to Ukraine, or should a comprehensive and long-term plan be formulated?

Shatov: A plan is needed to ensure the interests of our compatriots overseas, not just verbally but in practice. This means that responsibility must be pursued for Russophobia and discrimination based on ethnic characteristics in all former Soviet republics.

Russia should use all available means to prevent such behaviors, from economic sanctions to criminal prosecution of foreign politicians and officials inciting Russophobia.

"Who exactly are 'our people' who 'consider Russian their native language and Russia their homeland'?" asked political scientist Andrei Milyuk.

"Obviously, Russians. Vladimir Putin reiterated the definition of 'Russians' as non-ethnic nationalists.

It is not difficult to understand why Putin did not push this line of thought to its logical conclusion. Because otherwise, the abstract 'our people' would become part of a unified Russian nation.

Clearly, the boundaries of the nation do not end at the formal borders of the state. And in this regard, the Kremlin faces far more questions than answers.

If the final agreement is only reached with Ukraine regarding four new regions rather than six — does this mean that the goals of the special military operation have not been fully achieved? After all, there are millions of Russians under the anti-Russian regime.

What about our 'friendly allies,' Kazakhstan's mild policy of isolating Russians and expelling them? What about Kyrgyzstan's language patrol teams? What about the Baltic states and their 'non-citizens' (by the way, partly belonging to NATO)?

To be honest, these issues were not included in the goals at the start of the special military operation. Clearly, they will not be included either.

Abstract expressions like 'de-Nazification' and 'protecting our people' are convenient for negotiations. Whatever is agreed upon and negotiated will be seen as 'protecting our people,' and the goals of the special military operation will be fully achieved.

"In fact, this is another metaphor for previous statements, that is, Russia is protecting the lives of Russians," said Vladimir Bryunov, associate professor at the Department of Political Science of the Financial University under the Government of Russia.

"In this regard, the Russians in the post-Soviet space are certainly the protected group in the special military operation.

Before the special military operation began, residents of Donbas were not Russian citizens. Overall, all this was initiated for their sake, because for eight years since 2014, they have been under artillery fire, constantly threatened by Ukrainian Nazis.

In this regard, Vladimir Putin once again pointed out that the tasks being achieved in the conflict with Ukraine are to ensure the interests of Russians in the post-Soviet space. Because Donbas was originally not Russian territory.

Russia intervened to help them. From this perspective, all this fundamentally complies with the previously stated scope of tasks. Here it is mentioned that this is one of the tasks. Therefore, it is not just about this.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7506054267091681830/

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