#Nerijus #Maliukevičius #support #Ukraine #targets #Russia
The US Senate late on Tuesday approved nearly 61 billion US dollars (57.3 billion euros) aid package for Ukraine, which is being terrorized by the war started by Russia. This comes days after the US House of Representatives passed four bills totaling $95 billion. dollars (89.1 billion euros), bills that also approved military aid to Taiwan and strengthened Israel’s defense.
Immediately after this news was announced, the mood in the public space was quite ambiguous. Here it is Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz welcomed the decision of the US House of Representatives to allocate a new billion dollar aid to Ukraine.
“The decision of the US House of Representatives on support for Ukraine is a strong signal at this time,” he wrote on the X social network on Sunday.
However, there were also more skeptical voices – both in Ukraine and outside of it.
And the mood among Ukrainians was well illustrated by Volodymyr Konchyts, deputy commander of the 20th Special Purpose Battalion of the Ukrainian Presidential Brigade. a comment made in Kiev.
“The situation is ambiguous. On the one hand, we are very happy that common sense has won – it gives us a lot of hope, it lets us know that we are in a coalition of partners in the democratic world, that there is support, which is very good. On the other hand, we had become hostages of internal political struggles. That fight continues, and during that time an infinite number of our soldiers died, who could have lived”, said V. Končycas.
He also emphasized that it will take time for Ukrainians to receive support.
“We fully understand that various procedural issues will take time – Ukraine will not receive support tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, and this support was needed yesterday. It is for this reason that we continue to pay a very high price – that is, the lives of our brothers in arms,” the military officer emphasized.
“The ordinary people of Ukraine, the soldiers, appreciate it very much. It sows optimism, hope. Each of us will undertake to use this support exclusively for its intended purpose – to fight the enemy”, V. Končycas added.
War in Ukraine
Ukrainian soldiers (photo by SCANPIX)
Ukrainian soldiers (photo by SCANPIX)
Ukrainian soldiers (photo by SCANPIX)
Ukrainian soldiers (photo by SCANPIX)
Ukrainian soldiers (photo by SCANPIX)
Ukrainian soldiers (photo by SCANPIX)
Ukrainian soldiers (photo by SCANPIX)
Ukrainian soldiers (photo by SCANPIX)
Ukrainian soldiers (photo by SCANPIX)
War in Ukraine (photo by SCANPIX)
Ukrainian soldiers (photo by SCANPIX)
Ukrainian soldiers (photo by SCANPIX)
War in Ukraine (photo by SCANPIX)
Political scientist Nerijus Maliukevičius – the most important thing is to maintain such a position
Political scientist N. Maliukevičius, lecturer at Vilnius University’s Institute of International Relations and Political Sciences (VU TSPMI) emphasized during the news radio show “Hello, Milda” that Ukrainian soldiers waited for the support package in extremely difficult conditions, and the prolonged waiting time for support cost them not only the death of soldiers , but also the loss of equipment.
According to the political scientist, many citizens see the war in the wrong way – they are happy about one or another initiative, when in fact support for Ukraine should be thought of primarily in the long-term perspective.
“We need to balance expectations. In the context of Russian aggression, we live in a kind of roller coaster, attractions. If the news of that day is somewhat positive, we feel euphoria, while negative news throws us into despair. I liked the suggestion of war expert Maikas Kofman, to look at this war as one of the dirtiest, as a long war,” advises N. Maliukevičius.
“If this is a long war, it will not be resolved with one counterattack by the Ukrainians or one town captured by the Russians. We need to invest in long-term support. This package is just another step – it is not decisive, although it will be extremely important for Ukraine at the moment,” the political scientist added.
48 Democrats and 31 Republicans voted for the support package for Ukraine in the Senate. And 15 Republicans and 3 Democrats voted against the support package for Ukraine in the Senate. Such voting results once again showed that the Democrats are more inclined to provide support to Ukraine, but the majority of Republicans also tend to support the support.
According to N. Maliukevičius, the most important thing right now is to maintain a similar coalition in future elections.
“There is that position of the establishment that needs to be protected in every way so that future votes are similar,” said N. Maliukevičius.
We are also a target of Russia
According to the political scientist, we, the Europeans, are also Russia’s targets. Although we are not being bombed by Russia, according to N. Maliukevičius, Russia seeks to break our will.
“Russia’s main target is the will of the West to support this fight. And if Putin throws tanks and soldiers’ meat at the front, then he is throwing the tools of hybrid war and propaganda against the West, to disrupt political debates, thereby delaying the process or ruining it in general,” said the political scientist.
“It is necessary to understand that we are also targets – just not the targets of artillery and tanks, but of Putin’s hybrid war,” N. Maliukevičius added.
The political scientist agreed with the assessment of the Ukrainians – it will take a long time for support to reach the front, which will cost even more lives.
“I don’t think that the weapons that will reach the Ukrainians maybe a day later, maybe a week later, or maybe a few days later, will fundamentally change the situation. I would like to temper the optimistic expectations a bit. We must understand that this should not have happened – the process should not have taken so long, the Ukrainians should not have paid with their blood due to the lack of artillery,” said the political scientist.
“It is important that such pits do not appear again. And there really can be, as the US presidential elections are approaching,” the political scientist added.
Mini and useful idiots
According to N. Maliukevičius, in order to break the will to support Ukraine, local actors are often used.
“In order to deepen doubts, to declare all kinds of messages of peace, characters such as the so-called general of peace appear. This in no way means that Putin creates such characters or messages. Simply, these messages later become the object of propaganda circulation”, explained N. Maliukevičius, mentioning the candidate in the Lithuanian presidential elections, Valdas Tutkas, who previously called himself the “general of peace”.
As N. Maliukevičius said, bots are often used to distribute these messages.
“More than one study conducted by cyber security campaigns shows that a bunch of fake Twitter and Facebook accounts have appeared, which take such messages, spread them, trying to create the illusion that there is no support for Ukraine’s victory and so on. This can give us a completely distorted picture of reality,” said N. Maliukevičius.
And even artificial intelligence can be used to create these messages.
“But there are many other elements as well. And the messages themselves can be created with the help of artificial intelligence. Those messages may not be very aggressive, but they are questionable.
It is enough to create a negative list of the presence of NATO soldiers in Lithuania and try to create an alternative reality from that material,” said the political scientist.
It also exploits fears of nuclear war
Kremlin propagandists often threaten European countries with nuclear war. Ukraine did not escape such intimidation either.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who currently holds the position of Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, threatened Ukraine with the use of nuclear weapons.
He said that Ukraine, defending itself against Russia, would run the risk of running afoul of Article 19 of the Framework for Nuclear Deterrence: “Aggression against the Russian Federation using conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is threatened.”
“This is not a right of self-defense, but a direct and obvious basis for us to use a nuclear weapon against such a state,” on January 11. D. Medvedev said on his Telegram channel.
Kremlin propagandist Margarita Simonian spoke in a similar way recently, stating, that everything will end with a “nuclear strike”. February 7 she declared that Russia would “destroy the United States in one hour.”
Many such statements are heard in the program of Vladimir Solovyov, the most loyal propagandist of the Kremlin, in which hehe himself has stated that if a conflict with NATO were to arise, Russia would deploy nuclear weapons.
It is not uncommon for residents to imagine that Putin has some kind of red button to launch a nuclear weapon and wonder whether it is worth using it or not. According to N. Maliukevičius, this is the goal of the Kremlin.
“You know, this is the goal of the Kremlin. Show your unpredictable character at the nuke button. Medvedev has a very specific function, that of Putin’s crazy or drunken henchman.
Roughly – if not Putin, then who, this former liberal? That liberal is now more dangerous than Putin”, explained N. Maliukevičius.
According to the political scientist, the most important thing for the Kremlin is that we be influenced by fear.
“Even knowing about the specifics of using a nuclear weapon, I won’t tell you about it, because that’s the purpose of talking about a nuclear weapon.
The point is not the nuclear weapon itself, but the messages about it. It is aimed at our fears – we are afraid of a nuclear weapon, it destroys everything,” said the political scientist.
“Talking about such crises must be empowering – for example, it must be explained about the directions and principles of movement during a crisis, defense with a weapon, what each of us can do to contribute to defense,” added N. Maliukevičius.
:format(webp)/nginx/o/2024/05/18/16081917t1h1f3a.jpg)