Posted on 03/27/2023 8:28:51 AM PDT by Cronos
Natalia Poklonskaya has issued a harsh criticism of the pro-war Z symbol that has spread across Russia, the latest anti-war comments from the former Crimean prosecutor and onetime Russian lawmaker.
The Latin letter — first seen displayed on Russian military vehicles entering Poklonskaya’s country of birth — has come to symbolize the public’s support for Russian troops. The Z has been prominently displayed on buildings, flash mobs organized at schools and universities, merchandise sold online and even on the Russian Easter cake known as kulich.
“This letter Z symbolizes tragedy and grief for both Russia and Ukraine,” Poklonskaya, who had staunchly supported Moscow’s annexation of Crimea, said in an interview with a popular YouTube channel Tuesday.
The comments sparked widespread criticism, including from Poklonskaya’s immediate boss at Russia’s state agency for international outreach, Rossotrudnichestvo, where she is deputy director after serving a tumultuous term in Russia’s lower house of parliament.
Rossotrudnichestvo head Yevgeny Primakov on Wednesday said the letters Z and V are “symbols of the very liberation of Ukraine from the obvious evil of terrorists and bandits.”
“What I am saying is that it is dangerous to blindly worship any symbols — history does not like that,” Poklonskaya wrote in response to the criticism.
Poklonskaya’s break with Russia’s official line that it is carrying out a “special military operation” to “de-Nazify and demilitarize” Ukraine is practically unheard of for a sitting official.
Last week, she referred to Russia’s invasion of her native Ukraine as a “catastrophe.”
“People are dying, houses and entire cities are destroyed [leaving] millions of refugees. Bodies and souls are mutilated. My heart is bursting with pain.”
“My two native countries are killing each other, that’s not what I wanted and it’s not what I want,” she said in a video address to an international forum.
Earlier in April, Poklonskaya said Ukrainian society has “changed” in the eight years since the war with pro-Russian separatists broke out in the east and that Ukrainians “would not greet Russia with flowers.”
“Ukraine is not Russia,” she told a popular YouTube blogger.
Poklonskaya, 42, was a prosecutor in Ukraine until 2014, when she resigned and was appointed prosecutor general of annexed Crimea. She was elected to the lower-house State Duma in 2016, but did not seek re-election in 2021.
She may have a good heart. Russia versus the Ukraine has been a grievous slaughter of brother against brother.
Walking a tight rope IMHO.
Update on Russian military operations in Ukraine for March 27, 2023;
- Russian forces are not only encircling the fortified cities of Bakhmut and Avdeevka, it is increasingly utilizing its military aviation to bomb fortified positions;
- Increased use of Russian military aviation may indicate an irreversible deterioration of Ukrainian air defense networks and may continue to expand, accelerating the demilitarization of Ukraine;
- Ukraine's offensive may be directed toward the south or east, however, Russia has created extensive defense networks in both directions;
- Because of the West's dwindling stockpiles of weapons and ammunition, Ukraine's offensive, no matter how successful, will end with Ukraine unable to sustain military operations or maintain territorial gains;
- Russia bringing in older tanks and makeshift mobile gun platforms may be used to eliminate weaknesses in Russian defenses, saturating the battlefield with additional firepower to prevent Ukrainian forces from making it through zones of fire;
- Russian military industrial output is greater than Ukraine's Western sponsors, and therefore gives Russia the advantage in shaping the conflict after Ukraine's offensive ends;
Pretty woman.
Pretty strong.
Pretty thoughtful.
Pretty ethical.
Pretty determined.
There is no exemption for fair use.
Russkies - you owe me a bunch of money!
Sincerely,
Zeestephen
The sooner that Putin and the other ultra-nationalist Russians behind this war realize this the better.
It’s not a “Z”.
It’s a wolfsangel. Just like the one from the 3rd Reich-era German 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division.
That’s some nice propaganda.
Been hearing it for a while now and it’s getting old.
https://unherd.com/thepost/ukraine-is-on-the-verge-of-losing-bakhmut/
Thursday, 26 January 2023
Wonder if she knows how to peel potatoes? in Siberia...
Crimea river.
Blah blah.
Russia is the 22nd strongest in the world and has spent 8 months gaining 20 miles in Bakhmut, all while losing Kherson and the east of Kharkiv
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.