Talking Points: Ukraine

Thoughts on a variety of topics that affect Ukraine and the world for April 3, 2023

As edited by Sarah Ashton-Cirillo

Photo by Sarah Ashton-Cirillo

1.      Russia's presidency of the UN Security Council

Russia began its presidency of the UN Security Council, which, by the order of priority, falls on April 2023. 

●      Russia's presidency of the world's key security organization is absurd. Russia is the failed state which poses the greatest threat to global security.

●      It was during its previous presidency of the UN Security Council that Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

●      The Kremlin uses the UN Security Council platform to create destructive propaganda and justify its war crimes and terrorism.

●      Russia's status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council makes this organization inept. The Putin regime blocks every attempt to stop the bloodshed in Ukraine and prosecute Russian violations of international law.

●      Russia illegally occupies the chair of the former Soviet Union. 

2.      A year since the liberation of the north of Ukraine

In early April 2022, the Russian invaders were driven out of Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy oblasts.

●      The aggressor immediately planned to overthrow President Zelenskyy and the democratically elected government. Then they were focused on enslaving the whole of Ukraine while carrying out genocide. That is why Russian troops tried to seize Kyiv.

●      Instead of “Kyiv in three days,” the Armed Forces of Ukraine forced the enemy to “radically reduce military activity,” “regroup,” and show “gestures of goodwill,” and create many other excuses for their complete and total loss in these directions of battle.

●     Ukrainians didn’t panic, get scared, or surrender. Civilians, military troops, and law enforcement agencies resisted the enemy columns, sometimes stopping them with their bare hands.

●      The invaders miscalculated, believing that Ukrainians were weak in some regions and would welcome them with flowers in others.

●      At the most critical times, Ukraine proved its unity, strength, and resilience as a state and nation.

●      ZSU stopped the enemy, even when we did not have the same amount of aid from partners as now. And when few believed in our resilience and the will to fight, Ukrainians never doubted themselves.

●      A year ago, the Ukrainian Defense Forces defeated the professional enemy personnel troops in the northern direction. Defeat in the Kyiv direction contributed significantly to the defeat of Putin's plan.

●      Ukraine has grown more robust and is better prepared for a possible new invasion in the north. Once again, the invader will fall.

3.      The incident in St. Petersburg

On April 2, due to the explosion in a café, propagandist Maksim Fomin, also known as Vladlen Tatarsky, was killed.

●      Maksim Fomin is not a journalist. He was an information terrorist with a criminal past who participated in Russian aggression against Ukraine.

●      Ukraine does not plan or carry out assassinations in the Russian Federation. Ukraine is fighting for liberty and the liberation of the occupied territories.

●      Ukraine isn’t interested in letting the enemy escape punishment through death, but in the detention and prosecution of all war criminals and terrorists, this includes Putin’s propagandists. The courts should determine their fate.

●      The liquidation of Fomin is another indicator of Russia’s internal problems: an inter-palace struggle (the deceased was Prigozhin's puppet) or simply internal resistance to Putin's dictatorship.

●      Russian propaganda always hides internal strife and dissent as a reason to stir hatred toward Ukraine. Even after death, Fomin continues to serve as an instrument of slander and hate against Ukraine.