One year after the war that changed the world, tensions continue to rise. Photo: composition LR/Fabrizio Oviedo/AFP
One year after the start of the ukrainian war, a new chapter opens after the president’s announcements Vladimir Putin —in which he accused the West of starting the conflict— and the almost immediate response from his American counterpart, Joe Biden —who called Putin a “dictator” “trying to rebuild an empire”—. Regarding the sad date, La República spoke with Alexander Terekhin, editor-in-chief of the Russian agency Sputnik for Latin America regarding the balance sheets, the accusations of “crimes against humanity in Ukraine” and the possibility of a war of world proportions.
Alexander Terekhin is editor-in-chief of the Russian agency Sputnik for Latin America. Photo: courtesy Alexander Terekhin
—A year after the start of the conflict that has divided the world, what is your assessment of this process?
—Almost a year on, well look, the balance of this process goes far beyond the battlefields and the geopolitical and economic processes of practically the entire world are being rewritten. In purely military terms, it must be noted that the advances of the Russian army have been more than tangible, but at the same time I have to say that they are underestimated. In the economic field – and if we start to analyze the data – I personally could say, with complete confidence, that Washington is waging a war against Europe because it has begun to see a rival in Europe, a real economic and political rival. That can be seen both —we could say— in the robbery of the European companies that are now moving to the United States, as well as in the cutting off of cheap energy sources that Europe had with the Nord Stream.
Interestingly, as far as Russia is concerned, with all the anti-Russian sanctions that have been imposed, I would even say that they have had a more pronounced effect on the European economy than on the Russian one because, yes, there were some bumps, some that another drawback, but really, if you’re in Russia, you’ll barely notice a difference. Yes, McDonald’s and Starbucks are gone, but those aren’t really life-changing things.
—How do you remember the start of the Russia-Ukraine war?
—It has been something unexpected on the one hand, because everyone hopes that it had not started, obviously (…), but, in reality, —as I say— it has hardly affected people’s lives. There is more talk about the changes in the West than there are in reality. Logically, there were all kinds of reactions, because obviously Russian society is heterogeneous and everyone has their opinion about it. So, there are those who approve of it, and those who don’t, but the vast majority agree.
—U.S. The US, through Vice President Kamala Harris, has accused Russia of “crimes against humanity in Ukraine”, what do you think about this statement?
—The United States is always the first to accuse others of committing crimes, but at the same time they are the ones that have historically led this aspect. I also believe that, with all the sanctification of Volodímir Zelenski (who is now the Jew of the year, the politician of the year, the leader of the year and that they are building roundabouts in Madrid and monuments there and there), everyone turns a blind eye to the crimes against humanity that the Kiev regime was perpetrating for years and years in Donbass, bombing people.
Then, there is also the subject that I have studied in depth and that, in a way, I could even say that the things I have seen about the neo-Nazi battalions, which have been operating in the Middle East of Ukraine since 2014, to more than one person they would leave you psychologically upset.
—President Putin blamed neo-Nazi battalions almost a year ago when he declared the start of the conflict.
—You have to differentiate between two things. On the one hand, we cannot say that all these Ukrainians are neo-Nazis. That is not the case, but at the same time we cannot underestimate the presence of large neo-Nazi groups. Some of them are literally Nazis, they idolize Hitler, they are white supremacists who are going to eradicate everyone. We cannot say that they do not exist. Someone could say that they are small groups that have no influence (…), but saying that they have no power in the country is the same as saying that Isis or Daesh have no influence in Syria. They are not in the Government, but to say that they do not affect and do not have enormous influence and power would be outright stupidity. There were many groups and continue to exist today. They are literally neo-Nazis battalions that go with this symbology and, in many cases, forced the Government to change its opinion.
—Given the repeated tensions with the US and the European Union, are we on the eve of a war of global proportions?
—I very much doubt it because, above all, Russia is a nuclear power, and that is a good deterrent tool; if not, go ask North Korea, which has fewer and less sophisticated weapons, but nobody touches them precisely, nobody wants to mess with them. The United States if it wanted to expand the conflict, or the European Union – actually, in this context, I would talk about the US because the EU is just doing what they are told. It barely has real sovereignty at the moment—it would be opening a second front like setting up a conflict between Georgia or Russia, but I see it as highly unlikely.
What is going to happen is that they are going to enter the Ukraine with more and more weapons until they simply run out of human forces and there are simply going to be mercenaries. More than one American politician said that they are going to fight to the last Ukrainian, because, for them it is a game, they are not American or British or French citizens. In real politics, there are no emotions or morality as such, there are interests and strength. The United States has its interests and has its forces, and they pursue them. They don’t care what is actually going to happen to Ukraine. They don’t care about that at all and all the support they are getting now is not because they want to save Ukraine or want to fight for their freedom. It is simply a tool to fight against Russia, to weaken it.
—How has the information war been in the reports of the Sputnik agency?
“It would be a lie if I told you that this information warfare had no effect on our news agency.” After all, our website was blocked in many countries around the world, as were our social networks and even our telegram channel. I can tell you that we have lost some users, but, at the same time, according to statistics and metadata, the number of visits and views of our news has decreased very little, that is, we are talking about a single digit percentage.
—”Russia sentences journalist Maria Ponomarenko to six years for a publication about a bombing in Ukraine,” says Amnesty International. What is your position on the accusations against freedom of expression in Russia?
—There are the laws and the journalist, when writing, knew what she was going for. I personally see that in Russia, despite what is said, there is much more freedom than in many Western countries like the United States: without going any further, regarding Ohio, a journalist who was questioning the actions of the authorities and who was covering the abuses and the ecological catastrophe that has arisen from the actions the authorities have arrested him right there, in the middle of the press conference.
There are quite explicit rules that are clearly exposed to everyone and abiding by them is not difficult. In a way, I understand why they are there. Many times, especially in our times, there is a lot of misinformation that can have very serious repercussions. So, in essence, the laws are forcing people to know better before they tell others.
“What laws specifically are you referring to?”
The misinformation about the Armed Forces for which they arrested the journalist you just mentioned.