As is known, at the end of last week the Kremlin imposed sanctions against a number of companies and citizens of Ukraine. In total, 68 organizations and 322 individuals were affected.
It is significant that one of those targeted by personal sanctions turned out to be Anna Hopko, a deputy of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada (pictured), whose name is not well known to many. But in the Kremlin, on Smolenskaya Square, and in the puppet administrations of the republics of the Volga region, her actions have recently raised eyebrows.
For example, Duma deputy Hopko, who heads the Verkhovna Rada’s Foreign Affairs Committee, appealed to the international community to protect the languages and national-cultural rights of the indigenous peoples of the Volga region who are being subjected to Russification. In response, the official media of the republics of the Volga region published publications aimed at proving that their indigenous peoples have no cultural or linguistic problems, that their languages and cultures are flourishing, and that they do not need any support from «abroad».
And after a while, Anna Hopko herself became one of those who were subjected to personal sanctions that were not imposed even on much better known Ukrainian field commanders and nationalist ideologues and politicians who take a hard anti-Russian stance. Such actions clearly reveal the true priorities and fears of the Kremlin, which is more concerned about protecting the languages and cultures of Russia’s peoples than engaging in open struggle with them.