Thursday, March 28, 2024
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    Pro-Russian party, Moscow-led church plotting propaganda stunt on Rus Baptism Day

    It’s no surprise that such pro-Russian forces in Ukraine as the OPZZh political party and the ROCinU religious organization will use every opportunity ahead of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s visit to Kyiv on the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence to aggravate tensions to the limit – both in the informational, media, political, and public levels.

    That’s according to Ukrainian expert Oleksandr Kovalenko.

    As expected, the masterminds chose Rus Baptism Day as one of such occasions, under the pretext of holding a large-scale “three-day holiday marathon” across Ukraine.

    Media assets

    For three days, July 26-28, some 50 (!)camera crews of the Pershyi Nezaleznyi (First Independent) TV channel, the main source for channeling Russian propaganda in Ukraine after the former pool of relevant outlets  (112UA, NewsOne, and ZiK) got their license suspended, will be covering a whole range of ROCinU activities throughout the country. celebration. The “three-day holiday marathon” will host the full range of pro-Russian narratives that have been spun over the recent years, having gained particular relevance today.

    Pilgrims

    The so-called pilgrims of the ROCinU will play a special role in the events. For those coming from different parts of Ukraine, a religious procession will be organized to the Volodymyrska Hill. Earlier, I repeatedly emphasized the high risks posed by provocations that could be set up against such processions, which in fact would be organized by ROCinU and OPZZh. That’s especially relevant to the OPZZh style as the party frequently hires thugs posing as “activists”, tasked with attacking their regional branches and assaulting their members simply to attract media attention and portray the force as “victim of political discrimination.”

    The expert is more than sure that provocations will be carried out during live feeds showing Orthodox Christians in the temporarily non-government-controlled territories. No matter who exactly will be chosen as an interviewee for such feeds but it’s highly likely they won’t be speaking of Russian occupation – rather, the other way around.

    Speakers

    On the other hand, a number of odious and quite toxic speakers, latent Kremlin lobbyists, has already been announced to participate in the marathon. Among the most prominent ones are theologian Sergei Komarov, columnist Seva Novgorodtsev, writer and journalist Vasily Anisimov, leaders of the “Rus Baptism Day” international association, rock star Oleg Karamazov, businessman Alexei Omelyanenko, and producer Yuriy Molchanov.

    Showtime

    The event won’t do without a proper show. It’s logical that the Karamazov Brothers will perform, led by a regular ROCinU guest Oleg Karamazov. Besides, the marathon will host another guest from Russia, the DDT band.

    In this regard, it should be reminded that DDT fit perfectly into the concept of “reconciliation” of some sort, because their leader Yuriy Shevchuk has always positioned himself as “peacemaker” and never publicly recognized Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. In turn, he offered to hold a “reconciliation gig” for the warring parties in Donbas.

    Another peculiar nuance is that the band once dedicated a song to Yelizaveta Glinke

    Not only was she an adviser to Vladimir Putin, carrying out “humanitarian” missions across the world’s hot spots, inflamed by Russia, including in Ukraine’s Donbas and in Syria, she also defended organ smuggling and “black transplantation” often involving kids from conflict zones, including orphans.

    Movies

    Of course, how could such a large-scale celebration do without some cinema time? That’s why it’s not surprising that a propaganda film “Pilgrim” by Oksana Marchenko, the wife of Putin’s crony in Ukraine Viktor Medvedchuk, will be the highlight of the media program.

    So what we see is, in fact, a large-scale three-day propaganda stunt being plotted in Ukraine, where the Kremlin narratives will be spun and preconditions will be created for disrupting or compromising Bartholomew’s visit. The event is also aiming to discredit Ukraine through disseminating fake stories, pursuing manipulation techniques, and resorting to provocations.

    For example, Bishop Sylvester of Belogorodsk, rector of the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary, has already publicly claimed, on First Independent TV, that the arrival of Patriarch Bartholomew would be in “violation of the canons.” At the same time, he failed to explain just what canons exactly the trip would violate, and how, thus becoming a voice of gross manipulation.

    The closer Ukraine’s Independence Day, the more desperate, massive, and I’d say furious the OPZZh and the ROCinU’s efforts. After all, yet another project entrusted to them toward public destabilization in Ukraine and disruption of Bartholomew’s visit is, in fact, failing. After a number of previous fiasco efforts, another failure won’t leave anyone unpunished, that’s for sure. And both the OPZZh and the ROCinU are perfectly aware of this.

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