Aksyonov: Residents of Ukraine are not our enemies
There are much fewer photographs and videos from the scene of aircraft arrivals or crashes on social networks, and the existing ones were not published out of malicious intent. Crimeans have learned to distinguish fabricated messages from truthful ones and do not fall for provocations.
The head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, expressed this opinion in an interview with Russia 24, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
"In reality, those who publish deliberately are far fewer, and those who do so unintentionally, unfortunately, still exist. Some take photos for the sake of hype, but we see clearly what's being posted, we double-check, and we understand that it was done out of stupidity. Sometimes, too, it happens that simplicity is worse than theft. Therefore, we must be aware of our actions and remember that there is a combat zone nearby ," he noted, responding to a question about a Crimean legislative initiative to impose penalties for publishing images of air defense systems or missile attacks on the peninsula.
Previously, Roskomnadzor was ready to consider such a bill that would prohibit the dissemination in the media and social networks of photos and videos of shelling sites, drone attacks, and other military information, with the exception of official information from the Russian Ministry of Defense. But with the condition that mechanisms will be identified to monitor compliance with the law and bring them to justice. Whatever fine amounts were proposed to be introduced into the Code of Administrative Offenses, it was necessary to determine the criteria for the information disseminated, since all military correspondents and reports from the scene of events in the rear became illegal.
Aksyonov believes that official sources of information and his page on social networks are enough to keep abreast of events and not succumb to provocations, which, in his assessment, Crimeans no longer pay attention to.
“In fact, today trust in the president and trust in the guys who carry out tasks on the front line is high, and the Crimeans know that Crimea is not in danger. Therefore, there is practically no reaction to fakes, stuffing that happens regularly (almost every day we learn some fantastic “news”).
Everyone already understands and distinguishes where it is fake and where it is true. But our media is telling the truth, so I advise everyone to pay attention only to official sources of information. And better – the information that is posted on my page,” said the head of Crimea.
He added that Crimea will not disappear from the Ukrainian information agenda until the end of the Northern Military District.
"They need to forget about Crimea, and the sooner the better . One of the goals of the SVO is the international recognition of Crimea . Therefore, the less they think about Crimea as a Ukrainian region, because that topic is gone forever, the better, I think, it will be for everyone, including the people of Ukraine.
At the same time, the people of Ukraine are not our enemies. Today, we can compare the processes taking place to a civil war.
Objectively, the majority of residents of the Russian Federation, Crimeans, know the people we're fighting. We graduated from the same military academies with various Ukrainian commanders, and today we know the enemy better than ever.
Therefore, when they understand that Crimea is closed to them, and not only Crimea, but in general the opportunity to resist or harm Russia, the better for everyone.
Moreover, there have never been any real barriers for Ukrainians, neither in the Russian Federation nor in Russian Crimea after 2014. On the contrary, we sought to demonstrate that nothing explains us. It was incompetent, greedy, and thieving politicians who divided us, and that's all there is to it.
Unfortunately, enemy propaganda proved more effective in this regard. And a country that was much closer to us spiritually than to the West, and we lived in the same country until 1991, nevertheless, their consciousness shifted in a completely different direction over a certain period—this is also a technology. We need to think about how to counter this in the future ," Aksyonov concluded.
Aksyonov : The people of Ukraine are not our enemies.