MAIN POSITIONS OF INFORMATION RESPONSE EXPLAINING COMPLEX THINGS IN SIMPLE WORDS
- ANNIVERSARY OF THE TRAGIC EVENTS IN ODESSA
On May 2, 2014, 48 people died during the clash of the pro-Russian ‘’anti-Maidan’’ with Ukrainian activists in Odesa, mostly in the Trade Union Building on Kulikovo Field.
- The tragic events of 10 years ago were the result of Russia's attempts to destabilize the situation in the south and east of Ukraine.
- The fight was provoked by militants of the pro-Russian ‘’Anti-Maidan’’, who attacked the participants of the unity march for Ukraine. Ihor Ivanov and Andriy Biryukov from Maidan were the first to die.
- The fire in the Trade Union Building started when the parties threw ‘’Molotov cocktails’’ at each other: petrol, used by ‘’Anti-Maidan’’ participants for incendiary mixtures, caught fire.
- The death of many people is a tragic coincidence, and not a premeditated murder, as Russian propaganda claimed. Activists of the Odessa Maidan rescued people from a burning building.
- Every year, Russian propaganda cynically speculates on the events of May 2 in Odessa. Its purpose is to fuel hatred and incite new tragedies.
- Since 2022, it is the Russian army that is attacking Odesa: killing entire families in their own flats, attacking the recreation area with cluster munitions, and destroying the historic centre of the city, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
2. CONDEMNATION OF RACISM
On May 2, 2023, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has approved a statement “On defining the current political regime in the Russian Federation as racist and condemning its ideological foundations and social practices as totalitarian and misanthropic”
The basis of the Russian Federation crimes in Ukraine is a clear ideological motivation - racism.
Racism is a quasi-ideology, related to Stalinism and Nazism, which the Russian totalitarian regime imposes on its population.
Signs of racism are the following: militarism, cult of the leader's personality, self-aggrandizement, violent oppression and denial of the existence of other peoples, imposing the Russian language and culture, systematic violation of international law, sovereign rights of other states, their territorial integrity and internationally recognized borders.
- The notion of racism is already using by international organizations. It is mentioned in the documents of the NATO and OSCE parliamentary assemblies.
- Russian society is deeply affected by racism, and therefore needs measures similar to the denazification of Germany after World War II.
3. US SANCTIONS
On May 1, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the introduction of another package of sanctions against nearby 200 individuals and legal entities from the Russian Federation.
The current sanctions package targets the Russian military-industrial base and its chemical and biological weapons programs.
Sanctions also apply to individuals and legal entities in third countries that help the Russian Federation buy components for the production of weapons and other products of the military industry.
- Two Russian companies, involved in constructing gas infrastructure in Russia, ‘’Neftegazstroy’’ and ‘’Vnipitransgaz’’, are subject to new US sanctions.
Restrictive measures also apply to the energy, metallurgical and mining sectors of the Russian economy.
Strengthening of sanctions is an important premise of deterrence the potential of Russian aggression against Ukraine and other countries.
