Commenting on the supportive message of the American embassy in Kiev to the initiative to close allegedly pro-Russian TV stations, the RT journalist Brian MacDonald seems to have bought into the narrative that there are pro-Russian forces in Ukraine…

The banned TV channels were linked to Taras Kozak, who is said to be connected with the Opposition Platform for Life, the largest opposition group that has been accused of holding a pro-Russian position. It is a group formed of the former Party of Regions elements that were left orphaned after the Maidan. They formed the parliamentary opposition to the triumphant forces of the Maidan that took over in 2014. Today they have a sizeable support in the East because Zelensky sucks, the economy sucks, everything sucks…

In times like these people run to whoever talks sweet. But the question is, are the post-Reginnaires pro-Russian? Well, I have a test of pro-Russianness, “do you support joining the Eurasian Union and the CSTO?” Unless those are your aims, you are not pro-Russian. The difference in Ukraine on the Russian question is between, do you want Ukrainisation now and Bandera now, or do you wanna wait until tomorrow? And the so called “pro-Russian parties” in question would like to wait until tomorrow…

One of the channels banned is ZIK, which in 2014-2016 was known to me as a place where the Ukrainian secret service would plant information. The other channels I know were at least providing a forum for debate between forces critical of the government and its supporters. I do not view opposition to forcible Ukrainisation, support for the Russian language that is actually more native to Ukraine than English to Ireland, and opposition to the glorification of Nazi collaborators as a particularly pro-Russian position.

And the time of the Regionnaires rule in Ukraine, from the late 2000s to 2014 was quite bad for pro-Russian activism. Declaring a pro-Russian position even then meant drawing the attention of the secret service, many of the organizations were driven underground, activists harassed. The pro-Russian activism was supported by the Party of Regions during the Yushchenko years but then after the Regionnaires seized power, the various pro-Russian and left wing groups that helped them rise were promptly discarded and abandoned. This actually led to a number o the previously pro-Russian individuals to switch gears completely and become Ukrainian nationalists.

The ideologically firm pro-Russians that I knew 10 years ago are all in exile in RF, in LDNR or dead. Onufrienko, Chalenko, Tsarev, Markov are in RF, and Buzyna is dead. Do I have to mention that the Oppostion Platform for Life includes people that were involved in the Maidan and supression of pro-Russian forces in the East of the country? Sergey Levochkin is rumored to have a direct hand in the Maidan and there are photos his wife attending the pro-West and anti-Russian demonstration. Ilya Kiva was personally responsible for the suppression of pro-Russian forces in the Donetsk oblast in 2014. Mykola Karpyuk, a Ukrainian nationalist who fought against Russian forces in Transnistria and Abkhazia, says Rabinovych, another leader from the Opposition Platform for Life helped the Right Sector and other Ukrainian nationalists. Rabinovych was personally involved in getting Karpyuk out of Russian jail.

With friends like these, who needs enemies? The accusation of pro-Russianness is used against any and all opponents of the current government in Ukraine. In reality, the Ukrainian political scene has long been cleansed of any Russian influence in a process that began long before the eventful 2014.