A Russian Time Warp at The United Nations

By Askold S. Lozynskyj

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics officially came to an end in December 1991. President Yeltsin apparently, forgot to tell the USSR Permanent Mission to the UN. On May 5, 2009 the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations held a briefing entitled “The Outcome and Lessons of World War II and the Present” at UN Headquarters in New York. The event was opened and presided over by Ilya Rogachev, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN. In his opening remarks, Mr. Rogachev said:

     Despite the tragic lessons of World War II, we oftentimes witness the revival of practices conducive to the escalation of modern forms of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia. Unfortunately, a number of countries have recently been pursuing an undisguised policy of presenting as heroes those who participated in Nazi crimes; that includes the whitewashing of former members of the SS, which was recognized as a criminal organization by the Nuremberg tribunal.

     Quite recently, we have witnessed the profane action or inaction by the Ukrainian authorities, which allowed billboards bearing the emblem of the Ukrainian SS division “Galichina” to be posted on the streets of the city of Lvov. It is well-known that Ukrainian SS members killed Soviet soldiers, guerilla fighters in France and Yugoslavia and innocent civilians in Poland, suppressed anti-fascist uprisings in Slovakia and executed Jews and communists in Ukraine by firing squad.

     Open glorification of SS veterans and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army fighters, who tainted themselves with the crimes against those who fought in the ranks of the anti-Hitler coalition, declaring notorious Nazi Roman Shukhevych as a hero of Ukraine, demolition and desecration of monuments to Soviet soldiers are all links of the same chain of practices aimed at re-writing the history of World War II and inculcating blatantly pro-fascist ideology in the minds of the current and future generations.

Subsequently, he went on to calumniate the Baltic States and then introduced an Alexander Brod, head of the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights and a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. Mr. Brod went on to calumniate further, adding Stepan Bandera to the list of Nazis on the occasion of this being Bandera’s anniversary. Two other scheduled speakers followed with less offensive presentations.

A cursory review of the website belonging to the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights reveals that this alleged non-governmental organization, in its statements, speaks very much in tandem with the government position. In fact, one can scarcely find a single statement by this Bureau critical of the current regime in Russia. The Bureau has issued statements, however, rebuking Ukraine for politicizing the Great Famine in 1932-33 and has chided the United States for not repealing Jackson-Vanik’s application to Russia.

I managed to get the floor and offered a somewhat different perspective. Briefly, I suggested that this briefing was a time warp, very much similar to former Soviet briefings at the UN, yet taking place almost 18 years after the USSR’s demise. I pointed out that the most egregious Nazi collaborators were Stalin and the Soviet Union which signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact with Hitler 70 years ago and then proceed to divide Europe as spoils of their collaboration. This union was not surprising since it was a devil’s pact of two aggressors ultimately, both with a litany of cruelty and a legacy of victims.  My intention was not to attempt to convince the two main speakers that they were wrong on their assessment of the Ukrainian formations and individuals mentioned since Mr. Rogachev and Mr. Brod were men on a mission. I did submit to the audience the fact that Soviet prosecutors at the Nuremberg Tribunal, Roman Rudenko and Lev Smirnov did not level accusations against the aforementioned formations and individuals and that the Nuremberg findings do not mention these names. Finally, I stressed for Mr. Brod’s benefit that I had reviewed his organization’s website and based on the material posted, consider him very much a voice for the Russian government. Should he and the others be interested in human rights, I offered copies of Amnesty International’s country report on Russia’s human rights violations.

Mr. Brod appeared quite taken aback by my rebuke while Mr. Rogachev rebutted   pointing to my inability to comprehend the intricacies of Molotov-Ribbentrop, explaining that the Soviet Union was buying time. In any event, the briefing concluded.

This pro Soviet performance by representatives of Russia was not an aberration. In fact several months back in October 2008, Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN held a press conference at the UN Press Center in New York disparaging Ukraine’s attempts to inform the world about the Great Famine 1932-33. In the course of his diatribe, he attempted to connect Ukraine’s position on the Great Famine with Ukraine’s honoring Roman Shukvevych with a posthumous Hero of Ukraine award, whom Ambassador Churkin defamed as a Nazi. When confronted, he went on a tirade accusing Ukrainians and Balts of killing Jews, insisting that Ukraine and the Baltic states voluntarily joined the USSR and concluded by praising the virtues of the USSR.

Some bemoan the fact that today, Ukraine-Russia relations are at an all-time low. In fact, Prime Minister Tymoshenko has chided President Yuschenko for allegedly causing this condition. Ms. Tymoshenko is wrong. For the first time in a very long time, Ukraine is a legitimate component in the community of nations. It has the right to deal with Russia on an equal footing not as a subservient victim. It seems to me that acrimony in Ukraine-Russia relations is a dose of reality and an opportunity to expose today’s Russia for what it is. The Czarist Russian Empire was cruelly oppressive. Brute force silenced its victims.  Its successor the USSR was equally hostile and criminal, particularly, to the non-Russian nations caught within its pernicious web. The Great Famine, gulags and other repressions constituted its arsenal. Today’s Russian Federation is an appropriate successor to what President Reagan once termed the “evil empire”, and appropriately holds the Soviet seat at the UN. The fact that it brazenly defends Soviet criminality should open eyes. We Ukrainians have an opportunity to fight back. 

Dr. Lozynskyj is Past President of the World Congress of Ukrainians, chairs the WCU UN Committee and is the WCU’s NGO Representative at the UN. He is a lawyer and lives in New York City.