Wording about a war is part of a war itself. The Russo-Ukrainian war started eight years ago. Russia overtook Crimea and parts of the Donbas and Luhansk regions and installed pro-Russian governments on the occupied Ukrainian territories. Part of Russia’s justification to invade was to aid Russian-speaking Ukrainians in protecting themselves against the post-Euromaidan ‘junta’ or ‘failed state’. Russian propagandists facilitated any terms to avoid calling their invasion a war against Ukraine: civil war, armed conflict, humanitarian mission, special operation.
The international media often followed, failing to recognise the developments between Russia and Ukraine as a war. The popular wordings like “conflict in Ukraine” or “Ukrainian crisis” objectify Ukraine, put part of the blame for the war on Ukraine, question Ukraine’s sovereignty as an independent state, and deny tens of thousands of people legal recognition as victims of Russia’s war crimes. Past eight years, when the Russo-Ukrainian war is raging, the only just way to call war is war.
One can no longer sit at the grand chessboard and belittle the events that have already put the world in a crisis. Ukraine in Flames #46 illustrates why to call the ongoing war in Europe “a Ukrainian crisis” or “a conflict in Ukraine” is to cynically deny reality and to support Russia’s narratives.
Speakers:
- Raimond Kaljulaid, Estonian MP
- Julia Bali, editor in chief of Raadio 4, Estonia
- Eugene Czolij, President of the NGO “Ukraine-2050”, President of the Ukrainians World Congress (2008-2018)
- Regis Gente, French freelance journalist, Tbilisi.
UKRAINE IN FLAMES project is created by Ukraine Crisis Media Center, Ukrainian Catholic University’s analitical center and NGO “Euroatlantic Course”. We are aiming at searching a loud support for Ukraine in the war started by Russia on the 24th of February 2022.
If you want to support Ukraine against Russian aggression, check the link with recommendations by Ukraine Crisis Media Center – https://uacrisis.org/en/help-ukraine.
NGO Euroatlantic Course collects donations to support Ukrainian Army and civilians – https://eac.org.ua/en/main-page/.
