Re: “International politics can ruin friendships”, Nov.17-30

Sloviansk city council under control of armed forces. The masked man is holding Kalashnikov assault rifle. April 14 2014
Photo: Yevgen Nasadyuk (CC BY-SA 3.0)

I was surprised by this satirical article. The article beings saying there is misunderstanding between Ukrainians and Russians living in Canada about events overseas, and then continued by insulting Ukrainians! The joke did not translate well. Instead of sounding like the article was mocking contemporary Russian propaganda, it felt like the article was communicating something it actually wanted the reader to believe.

The quote from Julia Babicheva is gross and offensive when she says, “I’ve never separated Russians and Ukrainians into two different nations, we all originate from the same country and I don’t see almost any cultural differences between (them)”

Does it mean that Ukraine, Georgia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, and other sovereign and independent countries should not exist because they had historically been occupied by Russia, and their native culture and languages were suppressed under Tsarist then Soviet Russian occupation?

Journalism should inform people, not tell them to look away.

Ukrainian student Alona Pak was quoted in the article saying, “We don’t have evidence about these events, and we can only guess what is going on there. Russians and Ukrainians don’t need to prove who is right and who is wrong because we will never know the real truth.”

Ignorance should be revealed. Yes, there is confusion is a war zone where people are dying. But the truth exists. In a free and democratic society, citizens should ask questions and should expect answers to eventually be provided.

Yes, morality does not matter. “Russians and Ukrainians don’t need to prove who is right and who is wrong” because the person with the gun will survive and no one will comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

Ludwik Antoniuk