Ales Marachkin: Kremlin propaganda threatens independence of Belarus

Ahead of the Freedom Day calls for seizure of Belarusian lands have appeared in mass media of the neighbouring state.

The head of the artistic group Pahonya, a member of the organizing committee for creation of the Belarusian movement (“Belaruski rukh”) Ales Marachkin, tells why the “Russian world” has been put in motion ahead of the Freedom Day celebration. In the run-up to the holiday of March 25 Russian online media and social networking websites have stirred up a campaign of discrediting the national Belarusian idea, Radio Racyja informs.

– I think that entire Russia has been startled by the military “successes” of Putin in occupying the Crimea and the aggressive war in Donbas. I saw how the anniversary of the occupation was covered, and the orgy which was observed on this occasion. It is like an epidemic, almost all Russians are becoming sick and zombified, and correspondingly, adherents of the so-called “Russian world” are getting more and more perking up. These people want to justify Russia’s aggression. Ukrainian patriots are called “Yids-Banderites” and “fascists”. But the real thief in fact is the first one to shout: “Stop tief!” Ales Marachkin comments.

– They do not like Freedom Day either?

– The situation is almost identical. When Belarusians start to celebrate their historical holidays, people emerge immediately who want to drag it through the mud. In Belarus the propaganda is almost completely pro-Russian, that is why conscious Belarusians are becoming “fascists”. It is coinciding with the events in Ukraine and Russia. Not long ago Putin was cynically deceiving the world, saying there were no Russian troops in the Crimea, and now he confesses what had been happening in reality. How Russia could be trusted today?

– How dangerous this stove-piping by adherents of the “Russian world” is?

– They are extremely dangerous! There are people who are already dividing Mahilyou region or other “true Russian territories”. And they are parroted, some Belarusian “Cossacks” are being recalled, and they do not view Belarus as a sovereign state. We are probably not a real state and “subhumans” for them. The same labels are attached to Ukrainians. And it should be fought against, as we are facing a very serious danger! The aggressive policy of the Kremlin has ganged up against the neighbouring territories. Moscow wants to subjugate them in terms of ideas and information. Belarusians are still fragile, they have not fully realized their independence. And the more minds of people are obfuscated, so much the worse it is for us. It is the way to the abyss. Belarusians should feel good prospects, and the Russian path is a path to nowhere.