Today, the license of the "progressive" Rain (Dozhd) TV channel was revoked, the employees of which, it turns out, "helped" the occupiers in Ukraine and even dared to state this publicly. The radical step of the Latvian authorities was not hindered by the "apology", the termination of cooperation with the presenter "sympathetic" to the Russian thugs. A fine of 10,000 euros and cancellation of the license. This is how, uncompromisingly, one should treat everything that camouflages itself as "opposition" to Putin's regime, uses humane and free-speech-friendly Western laws, in order to further promote the narratives of the "Russian world", falsify information, survive, but stand its ground.
In fact, Russia ran short of "good Russians" a long time ago. They were brutally shot in entrances of houses or public places, in the center of Moscow, and in the capitals of foreign countries. They died from thallium poisoning, from explosives planted by the FSB in their cars. What remained is a banal shadow of the uncompromising and passionate nature of Dima Kholodov, Vlad Listev, Anna Politkovskaya, Mykhail Manevich, Galina Starovoytova, Oleksandr Litvinenko, and Boris Nemtsov.
“In fact, Russia ran short of "good Russians" a long time ago. They were brutally shot in entrances of houses or public places, in the center of Moscow, and in the capitals of foreign countries.”
What remains is a typical Russian adaptation, dressed in the robes of "pseudo-democracy", disguised as "intellectualism", covered with a fig leaf of decency and civility.
It is only necessary to raise the "Ukrainian issue", and now, perhaps not immediately, because the situation has changed, but over time you will see the face of a Russian chauvinist and black-hundredist (monarchist and ultra-nationalist movement in Russia in the early 20th century – ed.) under the mask of glamour and "oppositional" charm. It is worth asking a question as simple as borscht: "whose is Crimea", you will be pelted with "sandwiches" and outright contempt.
Yes, they call Putin with bad words, but in fact none of them even stuttered in the early 2000s that the country was gradually being plunged into the darkness of the power of FSB. At that time, everything suited the "oppositionists": parliamentary mandates, "gas and oil dollars", access to the media, created not by them, but by real fighters for freedom of speech. In fact, they were praying for Putin, for his "nonsense" about "sovereign democracy", for his grimacing in front of Western politicians, a face that gradually turned into a dictator's grimace. Even when everything became clear to everyone, they continued to repeat after Augusto Pinochet: "he is not a dictator, he just has an angry face."
There are many of them in Ukraine. I once had the opportunity to work with such an "intellectual" - he had everything: an appropriate education, a brilliant intellect, and the ability to "sell" himself. And, of course, arrogance in the attitude towards Ukrainians, in the best case – a chance to use their talents and skills, in order to later tell that it was actually he, the "Russian", who discovered these treasures.
But at the same time - some unsophisticated shallowness, even in household trifles, the gluttony of a lumpen, the brutality of a hoodlum.
But to hell with him, it's a matter of years gone by...
The Rain TV has finally subsided with its streams of pseudo-democratic rhetoric. In fact, as noted by blogger Serhiy Marchenko, it was "an excellent example of a Russian propaganda resource", because as a result of the total degradation, Skabeeva and Solovyov have already lost their professional skills.
Now we should expect a domino effect in the countries of Europe and America, where there are too many of such truly propagandistic pro-Russian resources. They present themselves as mouthpieces of local diasporas, but in reality the problems of emigrants are just a screen behind which the interests of Putin and his Russia are hidden. They imitate liberalism, cheat local politicians when it comes to the votes of compatriots abroad, but in fact they promote Kremlin narratives, poisoning the brains of not only Russians. Thousands of such Rain TVs should be immediately deprived of licenses and publishing rights, if the world really wants to breathe freely, without the fumes of the "Russian World" and its “spiritual ties” insanities.
About the author. Ihor Hulyk is a journalist, editor-in-chief of the Espreso. Zahid website.
The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.