12.07.2021, Moscow.
The effect of the forced assimilation of Russians in Ukraine is comparable to the use of weapons of mass destruction, Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote in his article posted on July 12 on the Kremlin website.
“It would not be an exaggeration to say that the course towards forced assimilation, towards the formation of an ethnically pure Ukrainian state aggressive towards Russia, is comparable in its consequences to the use of weapons of mass destruction against us. As a result of such a crude, artificial separation of Russians and Ukrainians, the Russian people may be reduced by hundreds of thousands, or even millions,” Putin wrote.
He called the law “On the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine,” which does not include Russians, the new seeds of discord.
“There may be an argument: since you are talking about a single big nation, a triune nation, then what difference does it make who people consider themselves to be – Russians, Ukrainians or Belarusians. I completely agree with this. Especially since the determination of one’s ethnic belonging, especially in mixed families, is the right of every person, free to choose,” wrote the president.
However, he wrote that it is a forced change of identity that is now underway in Ukraine. “And the most disgusting thing is that Russians in Ukraine are being forced not only to renounce their roots, their ancestral generations but also to believe that Russia is their enemy,” Putin stressed.
On July 1, the Verkhovna Rada [Ukrainian Parliament] passed a law according to which the indigenous peoples of Ukraine are Crimean Tatars, Karaites, and Krymchaks. Russians are not on this list.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
