Zelensky Is Scared That Detained Azov Members Will Spill the Beans About Kiev’s War Crimes
Azov Battalion. File photo.
By Andrew Korybko – Aug 22, 2022
The last thing that Zelensky wants is for those fighters to admit to the war crimes that they carried out on the orders of senior officials answerable to him personally, which would therefore implicate him since he ultimately sits atop the chain of command. Just last week, “The Washington Post Admitted That Zelensky Lied, People Died, And Ukrainians Are Upset”, and his people would be even more enraged if they learned how many human shields he sacrificed in Mariupol.
Zelensky demanded that detained members of the Azov Battalion not face trial in Donbass otherwise he’ll refuse to restart peace talks with Russia, which prompted Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) leader Denis Pushilin to double down by declaring that his Ukrainian counterpart’s ultimatum will have “no effect” on the forthcoming judicial proceedings. That new nation captured those Neo-Nazis throughout the course of the ongoing special military operation that it’s participating in alongside its Russian and Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) allies, and since it sincerely believes in equally applying the rule of law without discrimination, its officials couldn’t in good conscience capitulate to that ridiculous demand.
The entire reason why the Ukrainian leader put forth his ultimatum is because he’s scared that those detained Azov members will spill the beans about Kiev’s war crimes. After all, Amnesty International just proved that his side illegally militarized residential areas and thus exploited civilians there as human shields. The Battle of Mariupol was the most infamous example of this since the latest phase of the Ukrainian Conflict began in late February, which is why his forces bombed a prison late last month where their fellows were being kept in a desperate last-ditch attempt to take them out before they talk too much.
They didn’t kill all of them, though, as Pushilin confirmed in his response that “23 people have been arrested and are in custody” as part of his republic’s investigation into the “80 counts of crimes committed by the Azov”. The last thing that Zelensky wants is for those fighters to admit to the war crimes that they carried out on the orders of senior officials answerable to him personally, which would therefore implicate him since he ultimately sits atop the chain of command. Just last week, “The Washington Post Admitted That Zelensky Lied, People Died, And Ukrainians Are Upset”, and his people would be even more enraged if they learned how many human shields he sacrificed in Mariupol.
It’s one thing for Donbass and Russian officials to make such allegations, and another entirely for Amnesty International to say the same then have their findings confirmed by testimony from so-called “heroes” like some in Ukraine consider Azov members to be. Of course, Zelensky and his side’s perception managers can just claim that they’re “under duress” and only admitting to those war crimes in order to “save their lives”, but evidently even he himself isn’t confident that his people would believe that lie, which is why he ordered his forces to bomb the prison where some of those members were detained and is now demanding that they don’t stand trial as a perquisite for restarting peace talks.
RELATED CONTENT: How Russia Thwarted US Imperial Plans in Ukraine and Beyond
The Ukrainian leader’s desperation is clear, and he’s probably also panicking after the US-led Western Mainstream Media (MSM) began to decisively turn against him in recent weeks following scandalous reports from CBS News, CNN, and The Guardian that contradicted the hitherto “official narrative” about the conflict. Coupled with Amnesty International and the Washington Post’s latest reports, there’s good reason for Zelensky to suspect that his foreign patrons might be plotting to dump him should he become too much of a soft power liability for them if Azov members testify about his war crimes. Be that as it may, the DPR won’t capitulate to his demands but will instead bring those criminals to justice.
(Substack)
Andrew Korybko
Andrew Korybko is an American Moscow-based political analyst specializing in the relationship between the US strategy in Afro-Eurasia, China’s One Belt One Road global vision of New Silk Road connectivity, and Hybrid Warfare. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research.
