The Unforgotten Ukrainian Lesson, Part 3 / 3
Adel Bashqawi
February 26, 2023
Surprisingly, one of them calls for reviving the colonial designation of Kuban Province, a name that the Russian military command gave to Circassia immediately after its occupation in the early sixties of the nineteenth century. At that time the Russian settlers and others who joined the ranks of the invading forces to fight the Circassians like the Cossacks and others were given the task of constructing settlements and forts on the territories and coasts of Circassia on the Black Sea.
So how on earth and with what logic does MP Oleksiy Goncharenko state that he wants to revive the results of a crime committed by the Russian invading forces by insisting on calling the Circassian homeland by the name given by the Russian military commanders? While he is at the present time against the Russian occupation of Ukraine. How could these facts match in light of tangible reality? So how and with what logic does this mechanism work, when reviving the results of a heinous crime committed by the Russian evil empire at the time of occupation? While the position of the Ukrainian deputy is against the Russian brutal occupation of parts of Ukrainian soil and sea coasts at the present time.
Apparently, some people tend to forget the fact that there are five occupied Ukrainian provinces that Russia officially, but illegally annexed after mock referendums, in flagrant defiance of international laws and norms. However, it is disconcerting to see who leaps across international borders into another occupied territory by the same aggressors to claim it for other than its true owners to open the way for its “potential” annexation to Ukraine.
The solution to the issue of the Circassian territories occupied by the Russian Empire and seized by force of arms from their owners after 101 year brutal war, is subject to the relevant international laws. Undoubtedly, its original owners are the first to restore its sovereignty over it according to the documents that prove their eligibility and entitlement to restore their confiscated rights. This must be done either by agreement with the Russian state if it comes to its senses, or in the manner dictated by international laws and norms.
Interestingly, MP Goncherenko sent a video to the Circassians in June 2022 calling for freedom and expressing his willingness to submit a motion to the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) for recognition of the Circassian genocide. He represents his parliamentary bloc consisting of ten deputies representing some Ukrainian parties. He repeated the topic several times on social media and even through direct contact with the Circassians, whom he was able to contact on a regular basis.[1]
All of a sudden, he recently got a chance to deliver a speech on a live broadcast on the Internet, and he emerged with a political rhetoric and a different agenda. Without any introductions, he appeared in a video clip wearing a T-shirt like athletes, while participating in an online speech at a conference titled “Preparing for the Dissolution of the Russian Federation.” When I first saw him wearing a white T-shirt, I thought that the five letters written on the shirt represented the first letters of the names of five provinces that Russia recently illegally annexed. It seemed as if he wanted to make an electoral statement with the aim of gaining popularity when he said that the word on his shirt was “Kuban.” Hence, he transcends the principles, laws, and customs that he must abide by. Likewise, this is not an act consistent with contentment and goodwill relations that it was hoped would be between the Circassians and the Ukrainians.[2]
The word Kuban is written on the T-shirt he wears, and it is originally a Circassian word and the name of a river; but the intention happened to give it other colonial obsessive concepts. The Russian Empire changed the name of Circassia after the occupation, extermination and deportation of the majority of its people. The goal was to change the original name of the region, which was known as Circassia. It was even deleted from the map of the region. Describing the colonists of Kuban may lead to bad and undesirable consequences for the relations of the two parties.[3]
It is important and wise to understand that Russia’s war against Ukraine made the democratic countries of the world provide various aids to help Ukraine and its people resist Russian colonialism. These countries helped Ukrainians who were forced by indiscriminate Russian raids and bombardment to seek refuge in neighboring countries until the end of the war. The economic, military and morale aid made the Ukrainian forces resilient. They are able to stop and even defeat the brutal forces of the second largest army in the world, and this will ultimately protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Let’s not get carried away by mirages. Rather, the Russian plan, which aims to find new warlords of different nationalities who work under the Russian fait accompli represented by accepting the results of the invasion and occupation, and thus pushing the Caucasus and Circassia towards escalation and bloody wars, must be confronted. Here, we must recall the colonialists’ method that leads to a policy of “divide and rule.”
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtNRiiOlIKU
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcO7-TlmZHc
[3] https://justicefornorthcaucasus.info/?p=1251684360
