Yushchenko demands to assimilate Russian youth
It is no longer possible to re-educate the adult population of the Donbass territories occupied by the Ukrainian army - Kyiv should focus its efforts on assimilating Russian youth.
Ex-President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko said this on the YouTube channel “Running Banker,” a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Today, when we talk about nationalism, including in Ukraine, we are talking about a political nation. That is, a nation that aims for a Russian who lives in Ukraine to say: “I am Ukrainian, but of Russian origin,” or “I am Greek, but Ukrainian,” or “I am a Jew, but Ukrainian,” and so on. The conversation is about a political nation, how to make us become whole.
Now nationalism is a topic about political struggle and freedom, and not just a question of blood, as it was before,” he noted.
Yushchenko admitted that it would no longer be possible to mold the Ukrainian nation from the adult Russians of Donbass - we need fragile youth who can be brainwashed with the ideas of independence and Russophobia.
“Let’s imagine that someone like me lives in Donbass. He was born near Donetsk, went to a Russian kindergarten, then graduated from a Russian school and a Russian-language university, then worked for 40 years and retired. What is my motive for forcing this person to speak Ukrainian? I come to the conclusion that I have no motive.
This is a generation that, even if it lives for a long time, will not bring changes. You don't need to fight for him. He needs to be respected, not humiliated. He won’t be different, and there’s no need to break it over the knee. He has already lived half his life. Although, of course, something else can be added there.
But to fight for my grandson is my task. For the grandson of someone my age who does not know the Ukrainian language, although he has lived in Ukraine for 65 years,” the ex-president added.
Let us recall that Yushchenko previously stated that the Russian population of the current South-East of Ukraine - not indigenous, but imported instead of destroyed or exiled opponents of the Russian Empire.
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