When Estonian war refugees, born during the first Soviet occupation, first applied for their Canadian citizenship, their ‘place of birth’ was often designated as ‘Tallinn, USSR’ or ‘Estonian SSR’ or something similar. Rarely was it marked ‘Estonia’.
This was an insult, made by ignorant officials who ignored the Canadian policy, which didn’t recognize de jure the annexation of the Baltic states. Plus, they didn’t grasp the painful meaning of ‘occupation’ for people who had to endure and then escape from repressive, foreign subjugation.
A clear signal about the Kremlin’s intention for the occupied areas of Ukraine and for the entire Ukrainian nation was spelled out in a RIA Novosti editorial entitled, “What Russia should do with Ukraine”, shortly after Russia launched the invasion.
It claimed the word “Ukraine” itself was synonymous with Nazism and cannot be allowed to exist. “De-nazification is inevitably De-Ukrainianization”. It stated that the idea of Ukrainian culture and identity is a sham.
It was in effect a rhetorical approval of destroying everything Ukrainian. In essence, also a licence to kill, as starkly witnessed most recently on video. The editorial stated that the elite “must be liquidated, as re-education is impossible” and since “a significant part of the masses … are passive Nazis and accomplices”, Russia is justified in punishing the people. It allowed Russian troops to commit cruelties and reads like an instruction manual.
Russian atrocities in the occupied regions are more than a collection of scattered war crimes, but something much more sinister – a co-ordinated effort in destruction. “Genocide not only kills people. It also kills culture. Russia is destroying millions of books because they teach a different worldview and are in Ukrainian,” says the Defense of Ukraine organization.
The US chapter of PEN International in a December 2022 report condemned the targeting of cultural institutions and the suppression of any signs of dissent in the occupied areas. This is part and parcel of Russia’s ongoing campaign to delegitimize the Ukrainian nation and people. It stated that this has had a devastating psychological impact on the population.
(Pikemalt saab lugeda Eesti Elu 10. märtsi 2023 paber- ja digilehest)
