Russian state media reveals plan for occupied Ukraine
Moscow would reportedly stage own ‘Nuremberg Trials’ following war victory
A victorious Russia would rename Ukraine and execute people who resist occupation after taking full control of the neighbouring nation, according to Moscow-controlled media.
In an article published yesterday by state news agency Ria Novosti, columnist Timofei Sergeitsev repeated Vladimir Putin’s claim that the majority of Ukrainians are Nazis, and warned that the population would be made to “suffer the inevitable hardships of a just war”.
Moscow would oversee its own “Nuremberg Trials” at which those who collaborated with the “Nazi regime” would be sentenced to death, imprisonment or forced labour to restore “destroyed infrastructure”, wrote Sergeitsev, an ex-political advisor to former pro-Kremlin Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted in 2014.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
‘Little Russia’
The article, entitled “What should Russia do with Ukraine?”, said that the conflict with Ukraine marked a decisive break between Moscow and the West.
“In order to put the plan of de-Nazification of Ukraine into practice, Russia itself will have to finally part with pro-European and pro-Western illusions,” said Sergeitsev.
Our nation must “realise itself as the last instance of protecting and preserving those values of historical Europe that deserve it and which the West ultimately abandoned”, he continued.
“De-Nazification” – a key justification for Putin’s unprovoked invasion – represents “a set of measures aimed at the Nazified mass of the population, which technically cannot be subjected to direct punishment as war criminals”.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
These measures only be carried out by the “winner”, Sergeitsev stressed, so "a de-Nazified country cannot be sovereign".
The former adviser argued that “unlike Georgia or the Baltics, Ukraine, as history has shown, is unviable as a national state, and attempts to ‘build’ one logically lead to Nazism”.
Following a Russian victory, even the name “Ukraine” could not be “retained as the title of any fully de-Nazified state entity in a territory liberated from the Nazi regime”, he added. The neighbouring eastern European country would be renamed “Little Russia”, a title that as The Times explained, “historically applied to Ukrainian territories under Russian imperial rule”.
Sergeitsev’s rhetoric was “truly horrific”, tweeted Francis Scarr, a Moscow-based journalist with BBC Monitoring, “even by the standards of what I’m used to seeing from pro-Kremlin media”.
Disinformation overdrive
Sergeitsev’s article was part of a massive push by Russian state media to “spin the alleged atrocities in the Ukrainian town of Bucha”, reported Newsweek. State-run outlets claimed, without offering evidence, that the “slain civilians” were “shot by Nazis”.
An editorial in Komsomolskaya Pravda by the tabloid’s military correspondent Alexander Kots said that “terrible footage was published by the Ukrainian side” and that “the Russian military was indiscriminately accused of torture and extrajudicial executions”.
There was “no doubt” that the images and videos showed dead bodies, he wrote but “I was in the suburbs of Kyiv. The withdrawal of our units began even earlier. It’s just that by the 30, there was not a single soldier from Russia left in Bucha.”
Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted that “during the time Bucha had been under the control of the Russian Armed forces, NOT A SINGLE local resident has suffered from any violent action”.
But testimony from a range of international media outlets, as well as Human Rights Watch, contradicts the claim that Russian troops did not engage in widespread torture and murder as they withdrew from positions around the Ukrainian capital.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'Republicans want to silence Israel's opponents'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Poland, Germany nab alleged anti-Ukraine spies
Speed Read A man was arrested over a supposed Russian plot to kill Ukrainian President Zelenskyy
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Today's political cartoons - April 19, 2024
Cartoons Friday's cartoons - priority delivery, USPS on fire, and more
By The Week US Published
-
How would we know if World War Three had started?
Today's Big Question With conflicts in Ukraine, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific, the 'spark' that could ignite all-out war 'already exists'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Will Iran attack hinder support for Ukraine?
Today's Big Question Pro-Kyiv allies cry 'hypocrisy' and 'double standards' even as the US readies new support package
By Elliott Goat, The Week UK Published
-
The issue of women and conscription
Under the radar Ukraine military adviser hints at widening draft to women, as other countries weigh defence options amid global insecurity
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Why is Ukraine backing far-right militias in Russia?
Today's Big Question The role of the fighters is a 'double-edged sword' for Kyiv, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
Why is Islamic State targeting Russia?
Today's Big Question Islamist terror group's attack on 'soft target' in Moscow was driven in part by 'opportunity and personnel'
By Elliott Goat, The Week UK Published
-
Ukraine's unconventional approach to reconstruction
Under the radar Digitally savvy nation uses popular app to file compensation claims, access funds and rebuild destroyed homes
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What does victory now look like for Ukraine?
Today's Big Question Not losing is as important as winning as the tide turns in Russia's favour again
By Elliott Goat, The Week UK Published
-
Where has the Wagner Group gone?
Today's Big Question Kremlin takes control of Russian mercenaries after aborted mutiny and death of leadership
By Elliott Goat, The Week UK Published