Skip to main content

UKRAINE: SOME MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE WAR

 SKIP TO speak out against the war.

People walking in front of the Russian Duma building in Moscow, on February 22.
People walking in front of the Russian Duma building in Moscow, on February 22.
Credit

Three members of Russia’s rubber-stamp Parliament have criticized their country’s war in Ukraine, a rare episode of dissent from within the Russian establishment.

All three members belong to Russia’s Communist Party, which is nominally part of the opposition to the governing United Russia party but typically remains loyal to President Vladimir V. Putin on key issues.

The latest member to speak out, Vyacheslav Markhaev, wrote on his Facebook account on Sunday that, under the pretext of recognizing two separatist enclaves as republics, “we hid plans to unleash a full-scale war with our closest neighbor.” Markhaev is a senator from Siberia.

He and the other two Communist members had been among the majority of Duma deputies who voted in favor of a recent resolution recognizing the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic. But in his Facebook statement, Mr. Markhaev said that Duma members were not informed of plans for a full-scale invasion, and that he believed a government decree saying troops would be sent in as peacekeepers.

Earlier that week, Oleg Smolin, another Communist member from Siberia, wrote on his Vkontakte social media profile that he was “shocked” when the invasion began. “As a Russian intellectual, I am convinced that military force should be used in politics only as a last resort,” he said, adding: “I could not vote for the recognition of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics without betraying myself.”

The third Communist deputy, Mikhail Matveyev from the Samara region, said on social media that the war must be immediately stopped.

“I voted for peace, not for war,” he allegedly wrote on Twitter and Telegram, “For Russia to become a shield, so that Donbas is not bombed, and not for Kyiv to be bombed.”

He later deleted the posts, explaining in a Twitter thread that he was not doing it because he had changed his mind, but because his words had been reproduced “across the world, most often anonymously, to incite mutual hatred.”

“I just don’t have the time to delete hate comments created as part of the information war,” he added.

Mr. Matveyev explained that he supported peace, but he did not want to be seen as someone who “shoots our soldiers in the back while they are fighting where the politicians have sent them.”

“Ukraine is my Motherland,” he concluded, adding that he is hurt by everything that happens there.

Over the past years, such critical statements have become increasingly rare among members of the Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia. But after Russia invaded Ukraine, dozens of public figures and celebrities, including billionaires, TV anchors and sports stars, some of whom were even considered to be pro-Kremlin, have made their anti-war sentiments clear.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Countries Accepting Nigerians Seeking Second Citizenship

  Countries Accepting Nigerians Seeking Second Citizenship Nigerians are able to access the following citizenship and immigration programs: The Caribbean Second Citizenship Programs, Caribbean nations like St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia and Grenada offer second citizenship through their respective Citizenship-by-Investment programs. A holder of one of these passports may travel visa free to about 135 countries, including all European Union countries, the UK, Russia, Turkey, Singapore and Hong Kong. Holding a citizenship from one of these respected countries may also make it easier to obtain residency status or study in other countries, and allows political security and makes it easier to open bank accounts in foreign jurisdictions. To qualify, an applicant needs to be of good reputation and make a government donation of at least $100,000 USD after approval of their citizenship application.  Approval of a Citizenship-by-Investment application normally takes about 3 months, and all de

AKURE OBASHIP: OBA AGUNSOYEBIOYINBO ADEMUAGUN ADESIDA 11 BROUGHT CLASS AND DIGNITY TO THE THRONE

      AKURE OBASHIP: OBA AGUNSOYEBIOYINBO ADEMUAGUN ADESIDA 11 BROUGHT CLASS AND DIGNITY TO THE THRONE                 By Sunday Ajibola There are men and there are men. Man gets to positions of power and authority and bring to bear their inner qualities. Position, as we have it here, is used to do all sorts of things; good and bad. But mostly and vexatiously, position blinds us as we use it to cheat and deny others their rights. Certain men understand that position is an opportunity to etch their names in gold and put such in the sand of time.   It is exactly fifty years today that the 42nd Deji of Akure, late Oba Agunsoyebioyinbo Ademuagun Adesida 11 joined his ancestors. That fateful day was Sunday and in the evening; darkness was just enveloping the city. It was the strange shouts of "opo ye o, opo ye o, opo ye o", that prompted me to rush out of our house at Oke aro. I saw people running helter, skelter. I did not bother about them. I was looking for the "electric

$100 MILLION STOLEN BY HACKERS IN CRYPTO HEIST

  Hackers steal nearly $100m in Japan crypto heist IMAGE SOURCE, Liquid has been hit by hackers, with almost $100m (£73m) estimated to have been stolen. Leading Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Liquid has been hit by hackers, with almost $100m (£73m) estimated to have been stolen.  The company announced that some of its digital currency wallets have been "compromised." It is the second major theft of cryptocurrencies to take place in recent days.                 Last week, digital token platform Poly Network was at the centre of a $600m heist. "WE ARE SORRY TO ANNOUNCE THAT #LIQUIDGLOBAL WARM WALLETS WERE COMPROMISED, WE ARE MOVING ASSETS INTO THE COLD WALLET," THE COMPANY SAID ON TWITTER. So-called 'warm' or 'hot' digital wallets are usually based online and designed to allow users to access their cryptocurrencies more easily, while 'cold' wallets are offline and harder to access and therefore usually more secure.