Russians as Untermenschen

Conflict in Ukraine: If it talks like a Nazi…

The wreckage of a Ukrainian military transport aircraft near an airport in Lugansk, Ukraine, Jun 14, 2014

Rex Features

Voice of Russia,

16 June, 2014

Ukraine’s acting prime-minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has referred to pro-Russian insurgents in the east of the country as 'subhumans'. In a statement vowing revenge for the death of 49 Ukrainian servicemen (in a downed military transport plane) he said the soldiers "lost their lives because they defended men and women, children and the elderly who found themselves in a situation facing a threat to be killed by invaders and sponsored by them subhumans."

This, verbatim, appeared on the website of the Ukrainian Embassy in the US. If any doubts remained about the Nazi mind-set of the current authorities in Kiev, they have now been dispelled by the PM, reputed to be the ‘brains’ in the Ukraine cabinet.

Sharing the Nazi mind-set

There have been plenty of false, stupid and toxic statements coming out of Kiev over the past few months, though the ‘subhumans’ one probably takes the cake. But even more significant is the fact that the Ukrainian PM’s statement has been ignored by the Western political establishment and the media.

The west has routinely brushed aside Moscow's repeated warnings of the heavy odour of Nazism in the Kiev corridors of power. The reason is that the west's political agenda has been hijacked by people who support the views of the Ukrainian premiere. They are rarely so blunt - but they share the mind-set.

They are happy to support the most preposterous claims from Kiev and, as in this case, gloss over the most shocking pronouncements.

What is the Ukrainian for ‘Untermensch’?

We all know what happens when a certain ethnic or social group is relegated to the status of ‘subhumans’ or ‘Undermenschen’. ‘Subhumans’ is of course a concept that underlies much of what is currently playing out in and around deeply divided Ukraine.

Kiev – with obvious and unqualified Western support – is purposely dehumanising those in the South-East of the country who do not support Kiev’s civilisational choice, who lean towards Russia historically, culturally, linguistically. In essence, it is that which makes them ‘subhuman’ in the eyes of Kiev and its supporters and sponsors in the West.