The fundamental premise of this blog is as a monitor and observer of all that happens in Russian gymnastics. In as far as you can like a whole nationality, I like Russians and Russian culture. I do not like the Russian state's use of violence against Ukraine; (nor do I like the use of violence by anyone in any context).
This was the first blog to take a regular view of aspects of Russian sport, from the perspective of the developing narrative in the Russian press. Often the stories told lack resonance with what is commonly accepted about Russian gymnastics. There are assumptions about the sport in Russia that are accepted in the West, but challenged by the Russian gaze, and Russia's view of its own place in the sport is often challenging, and difficult for us to understand and appreciate.
In a similar way, the stories we read in this country about the War come from a heavily influenced Western perspective; our media lacks criticality in its treatment of this developing history. We read the Russian narrative as biassed, without questioning the bias inherent in our own; and we tend to accept Ukrainian accounts as gospel. We want there to be black and white, and we want to be on the right side.
Our narrative is that Putin and the Russian state lit a powder keg in Ukraine, and that our military support is there to defend the Ukrainian people. Ukraine is fighting for its life and has every right to defend its independence; seen in another light, however, you could say that Ukraine is fighting a proxy war against Russia, on behalf of the West. I'm not even going to try to defend this idea, but it is a position many do hold. This War is far more complicated than it is presented in the British and American press, and there is a duality of right and wrong that is difficult to argue.
I believe that Russia's war on Ukraine is unprovoked and that it violates the rights of all the people who are directly and indirectly affected by it. Both Russians and Ukrainians are hurt badly by the aggression and military action. In February, UK Intelligence estimated that Russia had lost about 70,000 soldiers in Ukraine. President Zelensky put it closer to 110,000, while the Ukraine military recently updated it to 150,000. Each country estimates the others' death toll as higher than the other will admit to; Russia says that Ukraine have lost about 157,000 troops, while the Ukrainian government estimates casualties between 10,000 and 13,000. And of course in Ukraine, the civilian death toll is horrible.
Russia is directing its aggression against its own people. It is estimated that around one million Russians have left the country since the beginning of the War, and few of them will return home. For those who did not have the means or courage to flee Russia, conscription is inevitable. Fewer and fewer people can escape the invitation to participate in war, that is now being sent via a computer app and is assumed to have been received once sent.
Since March 2022 it has been illegal for Russians to express dissent against the War. There is a hefty fine for doing so, and the threat of a prison sentence. This is in the context of a country that can make up its laws as it goes along. Today, anti-War activist Vladimir Kara-Murtza has been sentenced to a 25 year jail sentence for speaking out. President Putin's closest political rival, Opposition Leader Alexander Navalny, is languishing in an isolation cell in a prison in Melokhovo, 115 miles east of Moscow. News of his health is scant and unreliable, but it seems he is ill, and it's suspected he is being administered poison. Russia is not a safe place and speaking out against the war is not to be recommended.
Nor, indeed, is it likely that ordinary people have much choice about whether they publicly support the War, or how they do so. For a Russian, supporting the War is probably assumed to be a default position. For an athlete in an unstable authoritarian state like Russia, declaring yourself 'neutral' is probably the same as protesting against the War, carrying similar risks as openly declaring dissention. Athletes have relatives, jobs, they have business interests. All of these can be targetted if an athlete shows reluctance to support the state.
A blacklist is doing the rounds at present, produced by an organisation related to the Ukrainian Government, or perhaps the Government itself. Russian athletes and entertainers who have supported the war are being sanctioned; in many cases, for example, athletes are forbidden from travelling to Ukraine for a period of fifty years. I'm unsure what the criteria are for inclusion on this list or who makes the judgements, or where they get the information from, or who checks the data. I'm unsure what the point is of sanctioning individual athletes and entertainers as opposed to any other segment of society. It seems unjust and unfair both in process and outcome. Two wrongs do not make a right.
We, too, as followers of our sports, should not be targetting individual athletes in the current situation. We should not smack our lips when we read of such sanctions and say 'they deserve it'; we don't know that they do deserve it, and correct processes of justice have not been followed. Isn't it enough that athletes who have spent their lives preparing for these Olympics will be unable to compete with the best on a world stage? Let me say it again. Two wrongs do not make a right.
Russian vlogger Niki Proshin explains the new draft laws in Russia - https://youtu.be/NMuIhAFmQPo
Link to President Zelensky’s office website https://www.president.gov.ua/documents/2282023-46529
Link to Ukrainian Press announcement of the sanctions :
Gotta disagree that the war was unprovoked. Not saying that it's justified (it's not imo) but it's far from just Russia at fault. And while I do have some sympathy for Zelensky the fact he's made this into a media tour for himself, making off with billions, deserves scrutiny.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, agreed that blacklisting is bs.
It is really naïve or tendentious to ignore Ukraine's provocations since 2006. This is what the Western media do on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteFor a president to blacklist sportsmen is petty, to say the least. Doesn't he have anything more important to do?
This blog does not attempt to be an authoritative source on the causes and consequences of the War between Russia and Ukraine, following the invasion of Russian forces into Ukraine in 2014 and 2022. There will always be more than one side of the story. As editor, my concerns are as much for the Ukrainians who are affected by the War as for ordinary Russians who have little control over the direction that their state takes. I worry for the gymnasts who are in a highly visible and vulnerable position and are at risk of losing their livelihood, at the very least. I do not like that sport and politics are mixed, but it seems inevitable under the circumstances. I wish for the withdrawal of the Russian troops, for peace and normality to return.
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