The Russian Federation dares to have an irresponsible behavior at international level because it has nuclear weapons. The Russian elites consider the military aggression in Ukraine is justified and through propaganda the population of Russia has been indoctrinated in this regard, expert Igor Boțan stated in a public debate hosted by IPN. According to him, Russia is an aggressor state that should pay for the crimes committed against the Ukrainian people.
Igor Boțan noted that Russia tries again to legalize the work of the Wagner mercenary group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin so as to later transmit common messages to all the participants in the war in Ukraine.
“As from February 24, we have had a full-scale war that the Russian authorities in a shameful way call ‘special military operation’ so as to avoid the direct application of Article 359 of the Penal Code of Russia, which says it clearly that those who start a war are criminals and should be punished. The most important aspect is that the private military units of Prigozhin have worked in Ukraine since 2014 and since 2015 have taken part in military conflicts in Syria, Libya. Only last March, the State Duma of Russia introduced the recognition of these private military units in the agenda. At least three attempts to legalize them failed and the intention was abandoned last November. The problem was raised again by the State Duma several days ago. When military actions take place, the principle of unity and verticality of the managers of all the operations is important. We see that this thing in Russia is apparently absent,” stated the permanent expert of IPN’s project Igor Boțan.
According to him, the Russian invasion of Ukraine was prepared thoroughly during several years, while the propaganda of the Kremlin has imbedded in the minds of the population the image of a Russia that is wronged at world level and that should regain its territories.
Last March, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution by which it condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, seeking the immediate withdrawal of the Russian army from Ukraine. Igor Boțan said the whole international community should further look for solutions to penalize Russia for its crimes.
“We don’t know how long this war will last. The nuclear weapon is Russia’s main weapon. Russia reacts to what is going on in an irresponsible way. Russia transmits the message that it is so great, has a population of 140 million, which is it has supplies for cannon fodder. It has all the natural resources for turning into an autarchy, while the pretentions of the international community can be rejected as Russia has nuclear weapons. I hope we, as society, will not accept to be the victim of tiredness from this conflict. I hope we will all have firmness to insist that there is an aggressor and this aggressor should pay for the crimes it committed,” concluded Igor Boțan.
The debate entitled “Common roots of World War II and of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine” was the first installment of the series “Impact of the Past on Confidence and Peace Building Processes” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany.
