The Movement of Military Conscientious Objectors (MOC), founded in February 2021 and which brings together retired officers from the Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior in exile, has declared its support for the Russian veterans who objected to the invasion of Ukraine. These, grouped in the All-Russian Assembly of Officers and through its president, General Leonid Ivashov, called on President Vladimir Putin to resign and put an end to his “criminal policy of provoking a war.”
Ivashov, considered a “hard-line” military man and defender of the former USSR, wrote a long statement in early February in which he even asked the reserve and retired military and the citizens of his country to be “attentive and organized” to “actively oppose propaganda and prevent internal civil conflict with the use of military force”.
In the statement, the colonel affirms that this is the first time that Russia has entered a war in an unjustified manner and without the interests of the State and society being threatened. The military considers that the situation is more delicate internally due to “the complete incompetence” of the Government, but that abroad there is strategic stability, nuclear weapons are under control and NATO forces are not accumulating in a “threatening” way. “.
Ukraine, he continues, became an independent state after the fall of the USSR and, therefore, he affirms, “has the right to individual and collective defense”
Ukraine, he continues, became an independent state after the fall of the USSR and, therefore, he affirms, “has the right to individual and collective defense.” The soldier considers that Russia has not done a good job of showing itself to be a good neighbor for Kiev, nor has the situation in the Lugansk and Donetsk territories, in addition to the occupation of Crimea, which do not have international recognition, been properly managed, which shows , in his opinion, the failure of Russian foreign policy.
“The use of military force against Ukraine, firstly, will call into question the existence of Russia itself as a state; secondly, it will make the Russians and Ukrainians mortal enemies forever. Thirdly, there will be thousands (tens of thousands) of healthy young people killed on one side and on the other, which will undoubtedly affect the future demographic situation in our dying countries”, regrets Ivashov, who clearly fears that NATO will end up getting involved in the conflict.
Ivashov wonders what the real purpose of this tension and war is, since he cannot understand that the president, the government and the Ministry of Defense do not understand the consequences of their actions: “They are not that stupid,” says the soldier, who He sees no other explanation than a way to cover up the leadership crisis that, in his opinion, affects the country and that “could lead to an uprising of the people and a change of power in the country, with the support of the oligarchy, the corrupt officialdom , the media and the security forces”.
The soldier’s letter was made public before the start of the invasion, which today reaches its 19th day, at the beginning of February.
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