From the LinkedIn page of Serge Kaminsky.

May 30

After eight years of Russian aggression, Ukraine has finally received support from most European governments and political elites. However, thanks to many implanted agents as well as the “useful idiots” whose knowledge of Eastern Europe is limited to some Moscow-printed books about the Soviet Union, Russian intelligence is still able to promote their narratives among Western scholars and experts.

An example of their recent achievement is the last week’s Congress of the British University and College Union workers, which managed to pass two opposite resolutions at the same time: one demanding more substantial support for Ukraine, and another one, pushed by “Stop the War” coalition (led by Jeremy Corbyn / Andrew Murray / Brian Eno), calling for an urgent stop of the military aid to Ukraine, to “bring peace immediately” (and let Putin finish the job). STW has been advocating Putin’s narratives for years, starting from the support for the Crimea occupation in 2014 (https://lnkd.in/egb2sfjq). STW’s Andrew Murray, a former member of the Communist Party of GB, is persona non grata in Ukraine for glorifying the Stalin’s regime and promoting Russian propaganda (https://lnkd.in/eAVAD_dG). Yet the toxicity of this group is less evident for less-engaged academic audiences with no specialist knowledge on the subject – to the point that some delegates voted for both resolutions simultaneously and now have to apologize for their “inattentiveness to the details” behind nice-sounding slogans.

Another narrative is the conspiracy about “global geopolitics that is happening on the Ukrainian territory” (sic! denying the agency of Ukraine), so the West must give up, as Ukraine “has always been” a Russian “zone of influence”. An example of this neocolonial narrative is the US Columbia University economics professor Jeffrey Sachs. Mr Sachs is a frequent guest of the most disgusting Russian TV shows, such as Solovyev Life. Between them, he is seeding fakes on Western podcasts – despite numerous fact-based disambiguation by his fellow academics (https://lnkd.in/erc99WYX).

Finally comes all the nonsense with the “red lines” – “the Crimea was historically Russian”, “the people voted”, “the Crimea is a red line”. The audience of that narrative would benefit from a better knowledge of history, situational awareness, and geopolitics. First, the Russian constitution demonstratively makes no difference between Crimea and newly occupied territories. Second, removing Russian military bases from Crimea is essential for Ukraine from both a security and economic point of view (control over Black Sea export routes). Third, years have proven that any openness for compromise increases Russian appetites. Finally, only withdrawal from Crimea can change Putin’s regime, a prerequisite to sustainable peace.