Concerns over Russian ‘war propaganda’ rally
A leading figure in the resettlement and integration of Ukrainian refugees in Ireland views plans by Russians to organise a Victory Day rally in Ireland as “disrespectful” to the lives of so many who have died in the recent conflict.
Last year members of the Russian community gathered in Meath before travelling in convoy to Athlone. The event was organised by the Council of the Russian Compatriots in Ireland, which said the rally was not supportive of the war in Ukraine but to commemorate the defeat of the Nazis in the Second World War and to remember relatives who fought and those who lost their lives.
In previous years such an event took place in Dublin.
But Sergiy Balan, a director of the Association of Ukrainians in Ireland, views the event as pro-Russian “war propaganda”.
He points to vehicles in previous rallies displaying the ‘Z’ symbol, used by the Russian government as a pro-war motif, and appropriated by pro-Putin supporters to demonstrate their support for Russia’s most recent invasion of Ukraine, which began more than 425 days ago.
‘Victory Day’ marking the Soviet victory over Nazi German in 1945 is traditionally celebrated on May 9, however the planned events in Ireland are expected to take place, beginning in Belfast, the weekend before, on May 6-7.
“A lot of Ukrainian citizens have got onto me. They are afraid of their lives. Is this to support the crimes of Russia?” asks Mr Balan, who recently helped relocate the Palyanytsya Ukrainian Hub to its new home on Bridge Street in Cavan Town. “What is happening is a terrorist act [in Ukraine], and if we say nothing, what will happen next? It will be exactly what happened in 1939 with Czechoslovakia, when Europe did nothing, and Hitler caused the Second World War.”
Displaced
Over the past 12 months, 1,700 displaced Ukrainian people have come to live in towns and villages all over County Cavan. He accepts that some of those who have fled the ongoing conflict from the embattled Donetsk region are Russian sympathisers. He acknowledges too that everyone is entitled to refuge.
“I know that everybody has the freedom to speak, to tell their own opinion. But it is not freedom to support terrorists, who are cutting the heads of teachers for speaking Ukrainian. Who are proud to be invading a country and committing military crimes. The whole world has seen this.”
What concerns Mr Balan further is an allegation circulating in Russian media reports that the people of Ireland are backing Putin’s war effort in Ukraine. An image of aid, paid for and sent by people living here in Ireland, has gained traction and has been shared widely.
“It is not true. Ireland is against the war. Ireland has been very good to the people of Ukraine, all people. It is not right to say that it supports Putin, or Russia. This [kind of] propaganda is damaging to the image of Ireland. To see the cars with ‘Z’ is a dangerous message. [As Ukrainians] we cannot stay silent. It is not a good message. There are people dying every day. How can that be right?”