Zelensky Regime’s Suppression of Minorities, Press Freedom Endangers Ukraine – Professor

The crackdown on ethnic and religious minorities, as well as the media, alongside a notable absence of a clear political vision for the future, are far more dangerous for Ukraine than the lack of a military strategy, Professor Nicolai N. Petro told Sputnik.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has silenced almost all critics of his regime, said Nikolai Petro, professor of political science at the University of Rhode Island.

"I think the critics of the regime really have no voice in which to engage in a discussion with the political elite," Petro told Sputnik. "They have no real venue. The only place that they can voice their opinions is on social media. And so far, that's gotten quite a lot of attention.

"But these are famous names in the media landscape and social critics that have pretty much been absent from the political discourse of Ukraine for the last year and a half. So it's a good sign overall that these voices and their views are at least coming back on the margins, although I think it's too early to hope that they will receive serious attention in the halls of power."

Prior to Zelensky ascending to power, Russian-speakers in Ukraine were turned into nothing short of a "second-class people" following the February 2014 coup in Kiev that was backed by the US and fomented by Ukrainian ultra-nationalist elements.

Equally, religious freedoms have been violated. A new nationalist Orthodox Church known as the OCU, Orthodox Church of Ukraine, was established under then-President Petro Poroshenko in 2018, creating religious divisions within the country. Under Zelensky the split reached huge proportions with traditional Orthodox priests being persecuted by the Kiev regime.

"The idea behind this new organization was to unite all Eastern Orthodox Christians in Ukraine and create an alternative canonical church to the one that has always existed in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which was, for its part, part of the global Orthodox community and in close ties with all other churches, including the Russian Orthodox Church."

"So basically to replace one with the other was the strategy of the government of Petro Poroshenko. And it was very clearly designed as an electoral campaign strategy, which as we know, proved unsuccessful. In other words, this ploy to get votes, sympathy votes for having united rally the church around a new Orthodox entity proved unsuccessful," the professor pointed out.

Ukrainian society remains fractured, spelling trouble for the country's future, according to the academic. Increasing the suppression of freedoms and human rights in Ukraine amid the ongoing conflict with Russia adds to overall societal tensions, he said. Zelensky's unwillingness to hold elections fits into the trend, giving no room for alternative views and the protection of minority rights.

"I actually talk about the attacks on religious freedom of the government, the attacks on media freedom and the attacks on minority rights. And because all of those come together in the definition of an old, I guess I would have to say, an alternative political culture for Ukraine, an alternative Ukrainian vision of the political culture of Ukraine as diverse, as more pluralistic, as opposed to the nationalist version that is has been dominating since 2014."

Petro argued that this alternative pluralistic approach is needed to restore the country's unity.

Per the professor, most Ukrainian and Western observers presently lament the fact that the Kiev regime does not have a clear military strategy. However, a notable absence of a clear political vision of the future, which would incorporate all segments of Ukrainian society and bring them on board, is far more dangerous for the country than the absence of any military strategy, he concluded.