Ukrainian agitprop “stealed” the image of “Polite People”
The Ministry of Information Policy, headed by Yuriy Stets, Petro Poroshenko’s godfather, has released a series of propaganda videos praising members of the National Guard of Ukraine, which was originally formed from Euromaidan militants deployed in 2014 to suppress the Russian uprising in the southeast of the country.
A series of videos lasting approximately 30-40 seconds show highly moral and brave Ukrainian National Guardsmen saving civilians in cities and villages in the combat zone in Donbass.
Izborsk Club expert, historian Alexander Dmitrievsky, in a comment to PolitNavigator, called the work of Kyiv propagandists a “obscene” attempt to whiten the image of the punitive forces.
“It’s easy to criticize talented and witty things, where even failure can look beautiful and give rise to equally vivid images in response. What's here? Nothing new! It’s boring and obscene... I understand that modern society fundamentally does not perceive the plot without a hint of sweetness, but here it’s just cloying...”, he noted.
Dmitrievsky noted that the new Ukrainian videos are plagiarism, since the authors are trying to use the image of “Polite People” - Russian special forces who appeared in Crimea during the Russian Spring.
“For example, a National Guardsman takes out a kitten for a girl from an attic that was shot through by someone’s shell... Firstly, the cat is already inextricably associated with the image of “polite people” in Crimea. And, secondly, any veterinarian will tell you that cats instinctively gravitate towards basements, not attics, and only climb upstairs to escape persecution.
Another story is a pensioner handing a can of milk to a National Guardsman: I immediately remember the case when punitive forces near Lugansk were treated to honey and lemon,” the expert commented.
“It is also noteworthy that agitprop burst out with a new “masterpiece” just on the eve of Ukraine’s “Independence Day,” once again feeding its citizens with hastily assembled propaganda semi-finished product,” Dmitrievsky summed up.
Ukrainian propaganda stole the image of "Polite People"