Swastika Painted On Statue Of Prominent Jewish Writer In Kyiv

[Iterate]

5. Two points. I was refering to this:

Russian Disinformation Distorted Reality in Ukraine. Americans Should Take Note.

As the 2020 U.S. presidential election approaches, pundits in the United States are naturally looking back to 2016 in an effort to predict just what form Russian interference will take this time around—especially after former special counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony on Capitol Hill last month, during which he warned, “They’re doing it as we sit here.” To understand the threat, Americans would do well to look at previous Russian disinformation campaigns. To gain a fuller picture of just what Russian interference could look like in 2020, it is necessary to look back at the Kremlin’s hybrid war in Ukraine

Following the 2014 Euromaidan revolution, which saw Ukraine’s pro-Russian president deposed and the former Soviet republic beginning to tilt toward the West, Russia initiated a concerted effort—consisting of outright military aggression, proxy war, and disinformation—to delegitimize the new government in Kiev.

Branding the post-revolutionary government a “fascist junta,” the Russians took every opportunity to portray it and the Ukrainian state as purveyors of xenophobia, racism, and, especially, anti-Semitism. While the Jewish issue wasn’t one of particular concern to most Russians or Ukrainians, by identifying his enemies as Jew haters, Russian President Vladimir Putin was able to portray Ukrainian leaders as German-style fascists. In the post-Soviet sphere, where the memory of World War II is still a potent political force, this was a savvy, if immoral, move.

...

https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/08/02/russian-disinformation-distorted-reality-in-ukraine-americans-should-take-note-putin-mueller-elections-antisemitism/

The whole article is worthwhile. The end is most pertinent.

My second caution comes from various polls and studies which show a lower than might be expected level of anti-semitism in Ukraine. This one of them:



https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/03/28/most-poles-accept-jews-as-fellow-citizens-and-neighbors-but-a-minority-do-not/

For our newly found political enemies, facts have no truth value, only utility. For the vandal, this was a cheap, five-minute attack that struck at Jews, Ukraine, and the US. I'm just advocating caution in trying to understand what happened.