I call on politicians, media to tell truth about possible scenarios – journalist Portnikov

He said this during the forum's broadcast on Espreso TV.

"Bolshevism preserved the development of the Russian state for 70 years, so all the complexes and problems that other imperial powers have already experienced are being experienced by Russia today. And we have become contemporaries and victims of this. But nothing new and special is happening in this story, except for one thing: it is a nuclear power. This is the first nuclear empire that is ready to take any steps to regain its territories. And that is why we have to tell the truth first of all to ourselves. This is roughly the context we hear from Ukrainian and Western politicians and media: The West will provide appropriate support, Ukraine will liberate its territories, will have a strong position in the negotiations, and the war will end in victory. And I always ask: What happens if there are no negotiations? Do you have a plan B?", the journalist said.

Vitaliy Portnikov noted that there is no such plan, only vague security guarantees.

"We also hear from the White House about the ban on attacking Russian territories, and National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the suffering of the Ukrainian people is enough and there is no need to transfer it beyond the borders of Ukraine. However, the Ukrainian people cannot suffer forever for everyone, like St. Sebastian on the cross, for the Russian people and for our Western allies. What has been happening all this time in relation to Ukraine, and for which we are used to thanking the West, is some kind of incredible political and informational injustice. We are being asked to fight a nuclear power ourselves to see how much we can handle and then to calculate our own actions in relation to this nuclear power. I want to convince you that if we are not enough, new wars will begin in the post-Soviet space," Portnikov emphasised.

The publicist added that a big problem for the West is the restoration of all Russian borders from Uzhhorod to Ashgabat.

"And this imperial idea of Russia will be built by war, deaths, bombings, millions of refugees - we may still have to go through all this. Therefore, we need to talk to people about this, and we are creating the opposite picture of the world. As soon as we start telling the truth to ourselves, we will come closer to ending this war, at least we will see some kind of end, because now no one sees it. And this is a huge problem with what is happening. I believe that we are not doing enough here, because we are used to wanting to be popular, to carry optimistic information. By the way, people tell me that I scare people. But if we don't tell people the truth, sooner or later the day will come when they will find out. I always urge politicians and journalists alike to tell the truth to their countrymen about possible scenarios. It is better to scare people today so that they do not expect some incredible prospects than to face a situation of despair because their expectations have not been met. We will not know what to do with this crisis, because there will be chaos and the collapse of our state. I absolutely do not want to live to see that," the journalist summarised.