Russia 24 conducted another session of intimidating its viewers. Moreover, this time two favorite ingredients of the Chekist alarmist propaganda — Ukrainians and Muslims — were combined in one bottle.
Starting with the nationalist Azov Battalion, the talking heads jumped to Muslims and decided to link them together to illustrate their thesis: «Ukraine is an ideal place for any radical scum». But that was not the end of mixing everything and everyone.
To show the world how scary the Muslims expelled from Russia and currently sheltered in Ukraine are, they were simultaneously presented as members of ISIS*, members of Hizb ut-Tahrir*, and members of the Ukrainian Volunteer Battalion named after Sheikh Mansur. The fact that these are completely different, largely incompatible structures did not bother them at all — why not, if «people will buy it»?
This time, however, the objects of demonization were the Ukrainian Muslim journalist and human rights defender Anwar Derkach, who constantly defends Muslims from extradition, against whom security officials in their countries of origin fabricate various false articles, and the Russian Muslim political émigré Tagir Minibaev, known to our long-time readers (https://golosislama.com/news.php?id=29888).
Two years ago we wrote about how these people created the association «AZAN» in Ukraine to support Muslim immigrants (https://golosislama.com/news.php?id=33260), which became the main target of this propaganda attack. The reason is clear — in the post-Soviet space there is one country where Muslims (not always, by the way) can not only hide from domestic tyrants, but also engage in legal activities with the favorable attitude of local society and authorities.
It’s funny how the Kremlin propaganda breaks here — after all, in its representation Ukraine is conquered by natural Nazis, which is where this story dedicated to the Azov Battalion begins. Well, as we know, Nazis are not particularly fond of Muslims and other migrants. But for some reason Muslim refugees from Russia, where friendship between peoples and religious tolerance flourish, find a refuge in Nazi Ukraine. An inconsistency. But let’s declare them all «radical scum» and that’s it.
Needless to say, there has been no confirmation that «the roots of the AZAN association lie in Syria, in ISIS, which is banned in Russia» — and why should there be? The only thing that Kremlin propagandists could accuse this association of is the participation of members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, but this is not a problem in Ukraine, where this organization is not banned, as it is in the overwhelming majority of Western countries.
But truth and logic are not only unnecessary for Kremlin propaganda, they are harmful. It operates according to the commandment attributed to the chief Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels: «The more monstrous the lie, the more willingly people will believe it.»