Disinformation and Hybrid Threats, Ukrainian Government's Response, Artem Bidenko 2019-7-3 Pt.3of8

Ukraine as a Living Lab - Disinformation and Hybrid Threats
Ukraine House Toronto Panel, held at the Royal York Hotel, July 2-4, 2019
Moderator
Rebecca Harms, former German Member of the European Parliament, Green Party MEP (2004-2019)
Panelists
Ruslan Deyniychenko, Executive Director, STOPFAKE
James Appathurai, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy, NATO
Tara Denham, Director, Centre for International Digital Policy, Global Affairs Canada
Jerzy Pomianowski, Executive Director, European Endowment for Democracy
Artem Bidenko, State Secretary of the Ministry of Information Policy of Ukraine
Ukraine House Toronto was an event held at the Royal York Hotel from July 2-4, 2019 with the participation of Canadian, Ukrainian and international officials and experts on the topics of business, reforms and security issues. The event showcased a new image of Ukraine as a pro-western and post-Soviet country, interested to do business and trade. One project that was announced was the creation of a commercial space port in New Brunswick, Canada using rockets from Dnipro, Ukraine and satellites from Canada.
ukraineinvest.com/events/ukra...
This is just a few years since the 2014 Revolution of Dignity after which there was a major policy of de-communization, resulting in the removal of thousands of Lenin and other communist monuments, street and place names which were ubiquitous in most parts of the country up till then in most cities, towns and villages. Although the country became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991, it still made only superficial reforms up to 2014. Long plagued by debt problems and corruption by former communist officials still in positions of influence, Ukraine is starting to get serious about making reforms to modernize and improve its economy and society. Despite the conflict with Russia, since 2014 there has been a lot of fresh energy and optimism in the country as it has emerged from under the depressing dark cloud of socialism which has dominated its society and every public space for almost a century.
In the parts of south-eastern Ukraine under occupation by Russian-backed forces, they still have all of the communist monuments and street names everywhere, which shows the main ideological reason for the conflict. Communist influence in Russia is still strong, where Lenin's (neé Ulyanov) body still lies embalmed on public display next to the Kremlin in Moscow like it has been since 1924. Only a few of the communist monuments have been removed in Russia so far, and they have yet to go through a similar de-communization process with the removal of Soviet era monuments and symbolism, and the changing of street and place names.
It should be acknowledged that President Vladimir Putin did attend the funeral of dissident writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn. He has shown respect towards and erected a few statues of the Romanov Czars and Knyaz Vladimir. They have a Gulag museum now in Moscow preserving the memory of those who suffered during the Soviet period.
The attack on Ukraine could be an indication that the changes went a bit too quickly for the still powerful communists in Russia, but over time similar de-communization reforms are likely to happen in Russia as well eventually.
Marxism is an ideology with a lot of problems and interferes with economic progress and is not a good fit for Russia, Ukraine or any European country. Marx also did not like Slavic people who he considered to be dirty and backward. One of the reasons why Ukrainians feel resentment towards communism is because of the 3 Holodomor famine-genocides that they suffered 1921-23, 1929-34 and 1946-47 with millions of victims. It is the worst period they ever experienced in their thousands of years of history, which is similar to what many people around the world say about their experience with communism.
References
Bittman, Ladislav (1972) The Deception Game. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Research Corporation. archive.org/details/400437397...
Bitmann, Ladislav (1988) The New Image-Makers: Soviet Propaganda & Disinformation Today. Dulles,VA: Potomac Books, Inc.
Glagolev, Igor S. (1984) Post-Andropov Kremlin Strategy. Washington, D.C.:Association for the Cooperation of Democratic Countries.
Shultz, Richard H. and Godson, Roy (1984) Dezinformatsia. McLean, VA: Pergamon-Brassey's.
Shultz, Richard H. (1988) The Soviet Union and Revolutionary Warfare : Principles, Practices and Regional Comparisons. Stanford: Hoover Institution Press.
Stornoway Enterprises (1986) Agents of Deception. Documentary Film. Toronto, Canada.
Ziv Television Programs (1953-1956) I Led Three Lives. Television Series. Cincinnati, Ohio.
Still the most entertaining and educational TV series about communism based on the life of Herbert A. Philbrick, who also wrote a book with the same name.
• I LED 3 LIVES