Lampasses And Nappies

There is no military like General Ivashov around Lukashenka.

Colonel General Leonid Ivashov unexpectedly detonated an anti-war bomb, releasing an appeal of the All-Russian Officers' Assembly to the president and citizens of the Russian Federation. Ivashov's appearance on the Echo of Moscow radio station was even more important than the text itself, which was published on the website of the nationalist officer's assembly.

So, it's not a fake? It means that Ivashov exists. And not only does he not renounce the statement, but he goes even further in his denunciation of Putin's power.

Leonid Ivashov is a well-known figure. Not just a "hawk", but a prominent representative of the extreme nationalist, imperialist wing, close in spirit to the "Black Hundreds".

I had occasion to cross paths with him when working on disarmament issues within the CIS.

From 1992 to 1996 he was Secretary of the CIS Council of Defense Ministers and was involved in internal negotiations on international treaties signed by the USSR which we, as independent states, were to implement. Although his post was more about technical and expert assistance to delegations, he had considerable influence on the negotiations.

He influenced from the very same imperial standpoint. He was extremely negative about the independence of our states which were freed from the Soviet Union and he did everything possible to maintain Moscow's military control over the new states. We can say that he couldn't bear any manifestation of our independence. In addition, he simply hated both Gorbachev and Yeltsin for destroying the USSR.

Nevertheless, when we sat down at the negotiating table, we had to forget that the enemy was in front of us and work for results.

He was an extraordinarily difficult partner. His negotiating style was to exhaust the enemy. He could repeat the same arguments a hundred times with his smooth, monotonous voice, sometimes literally putting his opponents to sleep. He could overturn the whole outlined scheme of solving the issue and start all over again. One could take a lesson from him on meticulousness and the long-term siege of the enemy, but it was a way of behaving that diminished rather than added friends.

And so the General spoke.

With his speech he practically turned the public discourse against Putin.

That address alone has had a greater effect in de-escalating tensions on Ukraine's borders than dozens of empty appeals.

Now he simply has to be treated like a rascal. His friend Prokhanov has already made a hint that the general lost his nerve, i.e. "has a few marbles loose". His supporters will rush to renounce him.

Liberals will praise him perplexedly.

However, this is of secondary importance.

Even if everything is disproved, the "mene, tekel, fares" scrawled on the wall of the feast hall will be hard to erase.

One cannot conceal the fact of Russia's degradation, which is a threat to the very existence of the state. "However, this is an internal threat which comes from the model of the state, the quality of government and the state of society", but there are no external threats to Russia's statehood at the moment.

And I quote:

- The situation that is being stoked around Ukraine is artificial, self-serving in nature. Ukraine has a right to individual and collective defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

- "Russia's appropriation of Crimea and Sevastopol and the non-recognition of them as Russian by the international community (hence the overwhelming number of states in the world still consider them as belonging to Ukraine) convincingly shows the failure of Russian foreign policy, and the unattractiveness of domestic policy."

- War is the means that solves the problem of retaining power and preserving the wealth stolen from the people.

Well, and, of course, the demand for the resignation of the Russian authorities led by Putin.

Why is it important that this appeal appeared and that it was signed by a general, seemingly close in spirit to the current leadership of the Kremlin?

Because the increasingly brutalized power seems to have learnt how to cope with statements and assessments from the other side.

As Sasha Vasiliev sang in his Harry Potter.

"Yesterday the king walked, all tough and proud,

And the boy said: "The king is naked!"

"The boy got his head smashed by a foot

And an accusation was pinned to him."

You don't want to listen to civilians, you'll have to deal with the military. For now, with the retired ones.

In any case, General Ivashov justified the right to wear the officer's uniform overcoat and trousers with lampasses by this one gesture alone.

One cannot find such people around the usurper in Belarus. They have at best a pair of dirty nappies of the size of "small" under their trousers.

Andrei Sannikov, leader of the European Belarus civil campaign, Facebook