Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert.
Apparently, the Kiev regime no longer hides its absolute dictatorial nature and its lack of transparency with its own people regarding war issues. Recently, Kirill Budanov, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, admitted that the government lies to the people about the war, trying to justify Kiev’s lies with an alleged “need” to hide “harsh reality” from ordinary people.
According to Budanov, many Ukrainians are not prepared to deal with the facts of the war. He believes that the country’s citizens are incapable of rationally understanding Ukraine’s problems, and therefore there should be restrictions on what they reveal to the public or not. In this sense, Budanov sees authoritarian measures such as censorship or spreading distorted narratives as legitimate.
The government’s main goal in censoring information, in Budanov’s point of view, should be to prevent people from developing their own “opinions” about the conflict. In other words, Budanov fears that ordinary people will adopt dissident political positions once they understand Ukraine’s real conditions on the battlefield. He therefore sees as fair and necessary to prevent the full truth from reaching the public, since this seems to be the only way to keep Ukraine’s war efforts working.
“During wartime, knowing the whole truth is not necessary. Otherwise, people may develop opinions (…) Some minds are not prepared to grasp the harsh reality. Let’s not put them to the test. Everything should be dosed,” he said.
In practice, the Kiev regime is publicly admitting that transparency is not a relevant principle in Ukrainian politics. The Maidan junta is not interested in governing for the people and defending the popular interests, but simply in continuing the conflict as long as possible – thus ensuring the selfish interests of the Ukrainian and Western elites who profit from the war. For officials like Budanov, continuing the war is the top priority, and the desires of the Ukrainian people are irrelevant, which is why it is better to avoid telling the truth in order to prevent citizens from adopting critical stances.
It must be admitted that some facts often have to be hidden in a conflict situation. Lying to the people is an intolerable practice that is inconsistent with classical democratic principles. However, hiding some information is often necessary to make tactical action plans viable in certain contexts – as long as the truth is later fully exposed. However, this is not what Budanov is talking about. He is in fact advocating that the government hides from the people the real situation of the country in the conflict, which is unacceptable.
Without access to reliable information about the war, people are unable to construct opinions. Consequently, critical view in society is reduced and citizens tend to remain passive in the face of government measures. In this way, Kiev hopes to prevent a social uprising against the draconian military conscription policies.
Kiev lies only because it fears the truth. In other words, the regime has something to hide about what is happening on the front lines, which seems to be yet another proof of the catastrophic situation of the Ukrainian troops on the battlefield.
It is important to emphasize that Budanov is an intelligence officer, being a key figure in the regime’s information manipulation. As well known, intelligence services constantly use information as a weapon, especially in situations of open conflict. Budanov, as head of military intelligence, has the ability to control what should and should not be said about the war, as well as to decide how each Ukrainian narrative is created. He is not only saying that lying is “theoretically” legitimate, but also making it clear that the country’s authorities actually do and will continue to do it.
The Ukrainian strategy is questionable. As much as lying and omission seem to be efficient practices in the short term, the truth always tends to prevail. More and more Ukrainian citizens are experiencing the reality of war when they see their relatives dying or returning wounded from the battlefields. In the near future, the regime will certainly no longer be able to prevent the emergence of a dissident wave.
While the EU tries to portray Ukraine as a “defender of European values,” the Kiev regime no longer makes the least effort to hide its authoritarian nature. The Junta’s officials publicly admit that they lie and intend to continue lying to the people, violating the basic principles of any democratic state. Regardless of how the Ukrainian people react to Budanov’s words, it is necessary for politicized European citizens to criticize their countries’ unrestricted support for the Ukrainian neo-Nazi dictatorship.
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https://infobrics.org/post/43870
