“War with Ukraine will prove disastrous for Putin himself”

The other day Sergei Loiko, Los Angeles Times reporter and photographer, presented his book Airport in Kyiv. Among the subjects discussed at The Day’s office were heroism and imperialist disease, creativity and risk, Russia’s future, and what Ukrainians need to do in order to overcome.

“RUSSIANS WERE PREPARED FOR THE WAR”

How much of your book is fiction, and how much is fact?

“Now many ask which parts of my book are fiction and which are true. Ninety percent of what I have depicted is reality, ten percent is fiction. It is up to the reader to identify it. Airport is my manifesto. It is the story of people’s relations, of love, of man. It was not written as a topical read, and it does not claim to describe Ukraine’s history. This is a story of people who act in one or another way under the given circumstances. It is not the details of the siege of Airport Donetsk that matter. It will be stimulating for readers to empathize with the heroes who defied danger and made unprecedented sacrifice. Would you do the same under the circumstances?”

During an interview with the defenders of Airport Donetsk (DAP) I was impressed with their unhurried answers and well-weighed conclusions. What a difference between the so-called militias, who were handed out free Kalashnikov’s in April 2014, and the Ukrainians who went to the front to defend their country.

“There was not a single idiot among the cyborgs. They all were fine fellows. For instance, Misha, whose erudition earned him the callsign Polyglot. He speaks foreign languages and is an expert in all sorts of weapons, including foreign-made. They were men with a broad outlook, who consciously embraced the risk.

“A lot about Ukrainians came to the surface at Airport Donetsk. I mean not their ethnicity, I mean citizens of Ukraine, people who epitomize the civic society. There were ethnic Russians among them. Besides, war has a philosophical dimension. It poses numerous global question before man. At a certain moment you come to think, why on earth are you defending this airport? Objectively, it was impossible to keep it. The airport has become a symbol of civilization which man builds with one hand and destroys with the other.”

Could you sense before those tragic events, back in Russia, that war between our nations is possible?

“Russians were prepared for the war by the mass media. They had been forcing up the hysteria. Nevertheless, it was impossible to imagine a war between the Ukrainian and Russian nations. How can one hug with one hand, and stab in the back with the other? No one expected that. Most of the people in Russia still do not realize the depth of the crime perpetrated by Putin. It is not even the matter of the losses suffered by both sides, although they are grievous. It was a disgusting, cynical attempt at dividing nations on the basis of ethnicity. The aggressor says: this is Russian-speaking population, and we will defend it. Defend from whom? Then they came up with ‘fascists’ and ‘Ukrops.’ Why did 86 percent Russians fall for this lie? Because in their mind, Ukraine has never been, never become an independent country. For them, it is a southern province with a certain set of hackneyed stereotypes: salo, a funny accent, Gogol fest with elements of Taras Bulba style harshness, and the fact that Ukrainians live on Russian gas. All of this, because Russian television will not tell them otherwise. The media played with the people as a thimblerigger who hid the token up his sleeve, so it surely was not to be found under any of the thimbles.

“They began to compare the conflict in Ukraine with Kosovo. However, the conflict in Kosovo was interethnic and interconfessional. People were beheaded, pregnant women had their bellies slashed open, children were killed, whole villages were put to death. The declaration of independence of Kosovo was possible due to the fact that at the moment, the international community believed it to be the only solution which would put an end to a genocide. But in Donbas there had been nothing of the sort. People were living their routine lives, and then somewhere out of the blue all those armed ‘green men’ appeared. Kyiv sent armed yet untrained troops to counter them. Immediately there appeared buses full of foul-mouthed women and plainclothes fighters, with baseball bats in hand. Moscow was actually waiting for the first guns to be heard. What followed next was clamor that ‘executioners’ were murdering the peaceful people of Donbas.”

Russia had been preparing this conflict, creating premises for a bloodbath, which could be portrayed in the media as a civil war, and then bring in the “peacekeepers” and conquer the country physically.

“If instead of Malaysian Boeing, a Russian passenger flight had been downed above Ukrainian territory last July, the next day all the armed hordes, concentrated along the border, would have marched into Ukraine.”

“DONBAS IS TO REPEAT THE FATE OF TRANSNISTRIA”

Was Putin so really scared by the revolution, which had just happened in Ukraine? Starting a war is insane. There are so many other ways to exercise leverage.

“What the Kremlin is doing is inexplicable even from its own perspective. The only prospect resulting from such behavior is turning Russia into a North Korea, in comparison with Europe and the US. Who can enthuse over it except Putin alone? Putin’s decision to start war on Ukraine is ruinous for all, including his entourage. War on Ukraine is his whim, which he even cannot properly account for. Yet it is dawning on Russia that now that oil prices have sunk till $40, it can no longer back Donbas. Now more and more voices in Russia are saying that Donbas is Ukraine, and Donbas must be returned to Ukraine, for someone must pay the sustenance of such a huge, devastated, state-subsidized region. On the other hand, it will be a challenge for Ukraine to accept Donbas, with its destroyed infrastructure, and purge all the criminal elements with which Russia has saturated it. That is why Donbas is to repeat the fate of scary Transnistria, till Russia gives up its aggressive plans for good.”

On what terms could Russia give up those intentions?

“It can only happen if Putin leaves the Kremlin. And he can only leave the Kremlin due to natural causes. War in Donbas is his own war. He has to be great, doesn’t he? You can be great by supplying every village in the country with natural gas, or putting all corrupt officials behind bars. But he will neither of it. The easiest manner to demonstrate one’s assumed greatness is to start a war. This is a man who got used to hide behind false identities. His presidency is as false as all his other identities. He is playing the role of the president, the role of a great man. And it is because he doubts it, he needs his entourage to ascertain Mr. Putin of his greatness. He needs a media event to compensate his need of self-importance. And the war with Ukraine is just a pretext to prove his exceptionality to himself. There is nothing rational behind this aggression. And in the long run, this war will destroy Putin self.”

The Russian Empire, also known in history as Muscovy, the USSR, and now the Russian Federation, has from times immemorial demonstrated its dominance, propagating its own exclusiveness and the inferiority of Ukrainians. For centuries Russians and Ukrainians have been brainwashed in this way, with a concept of center and province, and in the end, of friend and enemy, brothers and strangers. As a result, when the war broke out, entire families were divided because of their loyalty to Russia or Ukraine. Don’t you think that Putin only had to touch the “sore place” of a long-cherished conflict?

“I have said from the start that Russians treat Ukrainians as the big, important brother would treat a young provincial one. Even nicknaming Ukrainians khokhols, Russians demonstrate condescension rather than hatred. Putin was traumatized by the collapse of the empire, the Soviet Union, which had the center in Moscow, and the provinces, where false order and false friendship of nations were maintained. Now the Kremlin is eager to return what is impossible to return. He wants to return the empire. Just like Okudzhava sang: ‘The Roman Empire in the times of decay maintained the appearance of rigid order.’”

Can you see a fully fledged opposition to Putin in Russia? Not in terms of its ability to affect the developments now, but first of all, sincere in its advocacy of democratic principles. In Ukraine they say now that a Russian liberal is tried by the question “Whose territory is Crimea?”

“For many intelligent, witty, liberal-minded people from my circle, the annexation of Crimea became a breaking point. They were unable to meet this challenge with dignity and acknowledge that the annexation of the peninsula is a pointless mistake. These people followed the Kremlin’s lead and effectively became its hostages.”

“PUTIN ACTED LIKE SHURA BALAGANOV”

You said that neither Russia nor Ukraine knows what to do with Donbas now. What about Crimea?

“Two hundred kilometers away from Moscow, in Tver oblast, you will find nothing but deserted villages, neglected, overgrown fields, but this is a nice part of the country, where I lived as a child. It used to be ‘Russian Finland’ in terms of nature and climate. The only difference being that Finland is a country with one of the world’s highest living standards, while Tver oblast is dead land. And you will find huge desolate areas in Siberia. A question suggests itself: what do we need Crimea for, if we have so much waste land as it is? Putin acted like Shura Balaganov, who had a huge amount of money on him, and yet picked another man’s pocket in an unthinking moment. Crimea is not a thing, which you can carry away, or brush your teeth with. It will stay where it has always been. Before, both Russians and Ukrainians could freely go there, buy what they would. But then Putin simply decided to steal Crimea, bold-facedly. I reiterate: there is something irrational and spontaneous in it. It is pure insanity to wage wars for territories in the 21st century, that is why for Putin this war can end in a deplorable manner. Why wouldn’t he keep looking after his pet bear, flying with birds, diving to the sea bottom to ‘fortuitously’ find an ancient Greek amphora, and thus demonstrate his good luck to the world? Why attack a peaceful country? No, this is not enough. He had to steal Ukraine by all means.”

Maybe this was demanded by Russian society?

“That society never has had any other demands but bread and circuses. Russian television with its primitive programs, vulgar newspapers and silly books dragged it into intellectual backwater. It dumbed it down and it shaped specific demands, which it immediately satisfied. The war, with its enemy image of ‘banderaites’ and ‘executioners,’ fitted perfectly into that society’s mind, in which the demand and algorithm of thinking had already been formed. Take a good look at Zhirinovsky. He has been a clown from the very start. He is still a clown, but now he represents the establishment. Look at the Night Wolves, who in any other country would be dismissed as anti-social elements, pariahs, or just gangsters. But in Russia they receive awards and get grants; just like Zhirinovsky, they represent the establishment. We are witnessing the restoration of the vilest principles of Komsomol: when you get access to the social lift not thanks to your merits and talents, but due to your willingness to lick the boots of the power.”

You have spoken both to the troops and the locals in the east of Ukraine. Why did the war break out in Donbas, rather than elsewhere?

“Because its population was least prepared to offer resistance. And the reason for it is poverty. Donbas is a very poor region, and paupers are easy to manipulate. Meanwhile, the influence of Russian propaganda has been very big there. As a result, Donbas turned into a ‘sleeping valley,’ reduced to primeval perception of reality, and power was grabbed by bandits who let the people face the fact: those are ‘fascists,’ we are ‘liberators.’”

“UKRAINIANS MUST SHOW THAT THEY ARE SUCCESSFUL”

Is it realistic for Ukraine to counter the huge Russian hosts in the war, which this monster has been preparing for years?

“Ukrainians must learn to do business where it can be done. Ukrainians must show the world that they are successful. Only in this way can Ukraine break free from the old Soviet mental prison: not only by learning its history, but also by feeling its worthiness today. Now Ukraine is tearing away this bloody umbilical cord, while Russia is pulling back and does all it can to try to make Ukraine sink in the Soviet bog. Ukraine will be able to resist the pressure by starting a new economic life. You can expand your military potential, create a huge army, and defeat Russia in a couple of battles, but it will not solve the problem on the strategic plane, because you are not the neighbors that can move out to other places. Unfortunately, now I see that in Russia, government is walking ahead of the people (meaning that the people self is inert and absolutely loyal to its rulers), but in Ukraine, on the contrary, the people are ahead of government. Ukrainians are prepared for economic evolution, for reforms, but government lags behind society’s demands.”

Back to your artistic career. You are a photo artist, correspondent, and writer. How do the artist and the citizen in you get along, don’t they get in each other’s way? For a Russian, your standpoint is dangerous, to put it mildly.

“I do not make a distinction between the citizen and the artist. Do what you must, and come what may. Some accuse me now of making money on blood. That I was at the Airport with cyborgs, and now I am cashing in on it. In reality, from a businessman’s point of view, project Airport is a failure at the moment. But judging on people’s reactions, on the welcome I got in Kyiv, I realize that I hit the bull’s eye. Others, from the pro-Russian camp, claim that I glorify ‘murderers.’ Those who criticize my book from the political perspective, almost unanimously accuse me of lionizing the ‘executioners’ who had been killing ‘our children.’ When you ask them to name at least one child, they shut up. People have no evidence, but they have a staunch conviction of their own rightfulness, due to their own ignorance.

“Nevertheless, it is necessary to talk to people and explain things to them. We should not dismiss them with derogatory cliches. The easiest thing would be to say that all the dissenters must be purged and deported to the occupied parts of Donbas. This is what Putin would do. Ukraine, being a European state, must persuade its citizens. Persuasion is possible not only with words, but also by setting an example of peace, work, and being successful. Russia, on the contrary, will become the poorest country in the world because it does not produce anything, which could help open the door to the future. Now Putin is busy with erecting a huge statue of Volodymyr the Great, his namesake. This is his whim, he is anxious to be associated with great men. In reality, Putin has no fruitful ideas except that of perpetuating his rule and self-adoration. Over the past 15 years the Kremlin had loads of opportunities to re-format the country. But they still sit on their gas pipeline.”