My response to the Russian Ambassador

Russian Ambassador to Ecuador repeats the lies and misinformation of the Russian government

The Russian Ambassador in Ecuador, Vladimir Sprinchan, sent a Letter to the Editor in response to my column entitled "One year of the Russian invasion", published in Spanish in the newspaper "El Universo" on February 17.

https://www.eluniverso.com/opinion/columnistas/un-ano-de-la-invasion-rusa-nota/

The letter repeats the same lies, falsehoods, misinformation and propaganda from the Russian government, about alleged "neo-Nazis" from Ukraine "attacking" Russia.

Here is a longer version of my reply (since there was limited space in the newspaper):

It is difficult to know how to respond to the letter from the Ambassador of the Russian Federation, since it is riddled with so many falsehoods and misinformation, which can be refuted using any fairly objective and reputable means of information.

The current government of Ukraine is not a “neo-Nazi” regime. It is a government democratically elected by a substantial majority of Ukrainian voters; It is a liberal and democratic government that seeks to join the European Union. President Zelenzky is Jewish, which makes the description laughable.

The Ukraine has never invaded an inch of Russia; the Russian government and its allies invaded Crimea and parts of the Donbas in 2014; they have continued to harass and attack Ukraine ever since; and on February 24, 2022 they launched a massive invasion, without any justification or provocation.

It is publicly known that the Russian armed forces have fired missiles and drones at electricity generation facilities, which is civilian infrastructure, in order to terrorize and make the civilian population suffer hardship.

In addition, it is clear that the Russians have destroyed residential buildings, schools, hospitals and other civilian infrastructure, without any military use. There is ample evidence of torture, rape, murder of unarmed civilians, and the kidnapping of Ukrainian citizens, including 14,000 children, who have been taken to Russian territories. All of these are war crimes, for which the guilty will eventually have to pay.

The Ambassador seems to be unaware that on three occasions (most recently last week) the vast majority of countries (141) have condemned the Russian invasion at the United Nations General Assembly. Only 6 other countries voted in favor of Russia, including the dictators of North Korea, Belarus, Nicaragua and Syria.

Thus we have 141 nations (mostly democratic and liberal) against 7 authoritarian, dictatorial and fascist regimes. Which seems to demonstrate what I stated in my initial column, about this being a global conflict between liberal democracy and authoritarianism.

Ukrainian civilians killed in Bucha, Ukraine; some with their hands or legs tied.