Mokryk: Russians may create another Putin

The opinion that if Vladimir Putin is gone, Russia will change is an illusion, says Danylo Mokryk, a journalist from the Ukrainian website Kyiv Independent. According to him, “Russians can create another Putin.”

The War Crimes Investigation Team operates within the Kyiv Independent. As Mokryk reported, the group sees widespread Russian terror; civilians are tortured, kidnapped and killed, children are indoctrinated. There is also religious persecution. – Russians systematically persecute Baptists, Evangelicals, Protestants, but also Catholics – he mentioned.

– Our work shows that Russia aims to eliminate the Ukrainian nation, incorporate Ukraine into its state, and rebuild the Russian empire. When someone tries to explain Putin's actions by wanting to stay in power and trying to hide corruption, he cannot explain why such terror occurs. The acts of genocide taking place in Ukraine cannot be explained in this way, he said during the conference entitled “Why won't Putin end the war?”, organized in Washington.

His previous speakers argued that Putin started and continued the war due to corruption, as well as the desire to stay in power and alive.

According to Mokryk, anyone explaining Putin's war in this way “disregards the entire course of history between Ukraine and Russia since at least the 17th century.” – Because you would have to pretend that Russian monarchs, Soviet leaders, and later Russian presidents wanted to use Ukraine to hide their corruption – the journalist continued.

He also argued that Putin's power in 2022, when he launched the invasion against Ukraine, was not in danger. – If someone says that Putin had to attack Ukraine in 2022 to stay in power, he is significantly overestimating the strength of the Russian opposition, Mokryk noted.

– So if someone ignores war crimes, the logic of the crimes, terror, attempts to suppress the Ukrainian nation, if someone ignores the words of Zbigniew Brzezinski, who said that Russia is an empire only if it has Ukraine, they may not understand Putin's logic – he emphasized.

According to him, the ongoing war is part of a centuries-old political and historical process. “And if anyone doesn't understand that, they will never be able to help end this war,” he said.

In his opinion, this line of reasoning places the entire blame on Putin personally. – While he is a continuation of Russian mentality, history, ideology. I think it was Garry Kasparov who said that it was not Putin who made Russians what they are now. It was the Russians who created Putin – continued the Kyiv Independent journalist.

– The illusion that if Putin is gone, Russia will change may be dangerous, because in reality the Russians may create another Putin who will still be a threat to Ukraine, possibly even more so, he warned.

From Washington Natalia Dziurdzińska (PAP)

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