Oleksiy Arestovych blames Russophobia for losing Ukraine ‘hundreds of thousands of supporters’ among disaffected citizens
By Natalia Vasilyeva, RUSSIA CORRESPONDENT, IN ISTANBUL 17 August 2022 •
Ukraine should stop “cancelling” Russian people and instead try to peel them away from Vladimir Putin’s regime, a top adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, said on Wednesday.
Oleksiy Arestovych hit out at fellow citizens for “letting their emotions get the better of them and cancelling [all Russians]” in a lengthy post on social media.
Mr Arestovych, a former intelligence officer, issued the statement amid fierce debate on whether the West should stop allowing Russian citizens to visit on holiday, as a form of collective punishment for the war in Ukraine.
“These are tens and hundreds of thousands of people sitting on the fence who could switch to our side,” he wrote. “And now they’re not going to do it.”
In his statement, the 47-year-old appeared to take issue with President Zelensky’s view on the matter.
Mr Zelensky in a recent interview with the Washington Post called on Europe to stop issuing short-term visas for all Russians “until they change their philosophy”, expressing his frustration with anti-war Russians for not doing enough to stop the brutal invasion.
Moscow has jailed dozens of citizens for criticising the war since ruling “fake news” about the military carried a maximum sentence of fifteen years.
On Wednesday, Mr Arestovych did not criticise the president personally but instead berated some Ukrainians for pursuing a black-and-white narrative that could hurt Ukraine in the long run.
“The Kremlin has spent 30 years looking for ways to oversimplify things. Now you did it for them,” said the presidential adviser who is a regular on the live broadcasts of exiled Russian media.
“Simplistic reactions cause complicated consequences.”
Schools across Ukraine have dropped the Russian language from their curriculum and the education ministry has also recommended removing Russian authors from literature classes.
Estonia, which has already stopped issuing visas for Russians, last week banned Russians with Estonian-issued Schengen visas from entering.
Latvia, another Baltic nation that saw a Soviet occupation, said on Tuesday that it will curtail issuing residence permits to Russian nationals, saying the permits will be renewed in “very rare, exceptional cases”.
Egils Levits, Latvia’s president, earlier this week insisted that issuing tourist visas for Russians to “relax peacefully in Europe” in the middle of the brutal invasion was not “politically and morally justifiable”.
Both Latvia and Estonia have been popular destinations for middle-class Russians to buy summer homes, with many later acquiring residence permits.
Calls for an EU-wide ban on entry for Russian passport holders are unlikely to succeed as many member states including Germany have objected to the move.
Wimbledon was this year criticised for barring all Russian athletes from competition.
Between 200,000 to 500,000 Russians are estimated to have fled the country since the start of the invasion.
Many of them left for visa-free nations such as Georgia and Armenia and are now looking to re-settle in Europe. Some of the emigres are scared of even visiting Russia as a mere social media post criticising the war could land them in jail.
Russian opposition figures in exile have spoken out against the visa ban as a meaningless gesture that targets ordinary people who have no bearing on decision-making in the Kremlin.
“Some European politicians are trying to come up with ideas that will look effective and popular while they have no room for progress on pressuring the Putin regime economically (such as the gas embargo),” Leonid Volkov, a close adviser of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, said.
“But there are still effective tools left. Just a kind reminder that (Mr Putin’s ex-wife) has a villa in Biarritz and two luxury flats in Malaga. I’d suggest the European Union start with that.”
He is well known to Ukrainians for making bizarre statements and predictions that turn out to be total bollocks. However, this might be an attempt to establish a negotiating position. Not a good idea though.
There may be exceptions for land owners or those that have never worked for the government, media or military. Problem is getting a Russian to tell the truth or prove their innocence.
Even if they are guilty: if they are in the West they cannot fight against Ukraine and you can watch them. Also it helps to create a braindrain.
Also, once they are in the Putlerite circles it is hard to get out without getting a “heart attack” or falling out of the window, so why not give them an opportunity. I can imagine there may be a lot of people in the military, media and politics that want to get out but have to no way to do it.
Especially when you are from some impoverished region of Russia without running water, medicine and with scarce food: you are either die in the military or because because of diseases.
Oh. I thought he was awesome, but I don’t know Ukrainian so maybe I missed some things.
Maybe we should just eliminate all Russians just to be sure.
I don’t doubt his patriotism for one moment, but he does say bizarre and unhelpful things quite often.
You can get an idea of how his mind works from reading his FB page. Just become a follower and use the translation tool provided by FB.
One of the most stupid things he said was back in May, when he claimed that the orcs were about to surrender in Kherson. Total bollocks.
To be honest I just scrolled through his Facebook page (not until May because the translator didn’t go that far).
I think he is an extremely colourful guy and he has a lot of humour.
He is a bit arrogant at times, but he also makes some fun of himself.
At least I have no doubt he is very intelligent.
He has a very interesting CV too, I have never seen anything like that.
He also has his own school.
Volkov: “Just a kind reminder that (Mr Putin’s ex-wife) has a villa in Biarritz and two luxury flats in Malaga. I’d suggest the European Union start with that.”
Agreed. It is really appalling that squillionare putlerite scum are living such beautiful lives while Ukrainians suffer genocide.
Round all the bastards up, take their property and assets and kick them out.
We should separate the guilty from the innocent. This is not always easy. When we trounce on the ruskie people, we generally make it clear that it is the brainwashed morons that we mean, and never the anti-putler faction. As far as the brainwashed morons are concerned, to hell with them. There are more than enough ways to learn the truth. It is easier today than ever before. In the old days, you only had radio and newspapers, and they are easily controlled by a trash government. Today we have the WWW and social media. There is no need to swallow propaganda crap. But, the sad fact is that most ruskies prefer the excrement that’s being fed to them. It’s to their liking. They agree to erase Ukraine from the world stage as a nation, and more than enough of them even want Ukrainians completely gone as a people. I doubt that they can be “saved”. Maybe if they suffer bad enough. The measure of keeping them away from civilization is one method to put on the pain. That’s too bad for those who are against this crime syndicate. But, as adults, they should understand the extremely dire position that Ukraine is in, and I’m sure that most do so. After all, they are intelligent enough not to fall for the rat-catcher, Vlad.
Morally and strategically I am with Arestovych on this:
I do think it is good if there are some Russians leaving Russia so they will get out of the Russian media bubble.
They may spread the word to their families and friends.
I have some Russian friends in the Netherlands and they are all pro-Ukraine (of one I am not so sure, I avoided the topic).
In fact, I went to some protests: once because of the imprisonment of Navalny and another one against the war in Ukraine in Amsterdam and guess what, Russians organized them.
They were extremely kind and were even asking everyone joining to respect Ukrainians and do not bring any flags or symbols of Russia, even if the message is “I am Russian but I support Ukraine” and well-intended.
In fact some Russians had Ukrainian flags with “I’m Russian but I am with Ukraine” written on it. And they were making selfies with my “F u Putin mug” I showed you some years ago.
I admit, they probably weren’t on a temporarily visa, but they are Russians and did Ukraine a great favour.
Also a Russian that leaves Russia, cannot be conscripted and as usually highly educated Russians leave, it will lead to an ever greater brain-drain.
However, I think Olaf Scholz is against a visa-ban for the wrong reasons. He is just a pro-Russian arse and a horrible human being. If a Baltic president would say it is a bad idea, I would support him or her, but of course the usual suspects (wait for Macron to be whining about it) are complaining most.
I think that sucks, because if you are against a visa ban people may consider you a pro-Russian, while I think from a strategic point of view it is even better if Russians leave Russia for the EU or any other Western nation.
I do wished the Western countries would introduce a scheme that would make it more attractive for Russian soldiers, intelligence officers or politicians to flee: give them money and protection if they leave to further increase the manpower shortages they already have.
Instead of not giving visa’s to Russians I would make them sign some kind of contract saying they reject the war and consider Crimea, Donbas and the occupied territories in Georgia and Moldova as belonging to their respective countries or refuse them access. Maybe keep an extra eye on them and expel / persecute them if there is any evidence they support the regime, such as social media posts.
ALL RuZZians must be banned totally from Europe and North America. Exceptions would be made of course for those with a demonstrably long track record of opposition to putler.
Arestovich is a theatrical, like Zel. Unlike Zel he is whimsical and prone to flights of fantasy. He seriously pissed off Ukrainians with his false claim of orcs being about to surrender in Kherson.
If and when, as we hope, the bastards DO surrender there, he will be like the boy who cried wolf.
I think you will then miss one important thing.
Morally, I am with you, but I prefer (even a pro-Russian) engineer to work in the West than in the Russian arms industry.
Russia lacks know-how and competent people. They have huge problems in the arms industry, but also to keep machinery in the energy sector in working order.
Imagine that in the arms industry they are so desperate that they have to work 12 hours a day and are not allowed to take breaks or vacation and get little and often no pay.
I think the skills they have is more important than their political views because it is weapons, logistics and oil that the Russians need for their war, not thoughts and opinions.
Also, someone in Russia that already opposes Putin is not very likely to join the army, so strategically it does not matter much whether he is in Russia or in the West.