Kremlin targets the LGBT community |
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- New anti-LGBT law
- Putin's new crackdown targets the LGBT community
- How to respond?
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Serbia does not support Russian invasion: "Crimea and Donbas are Ukraine" & “Wagnerian story” |
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- Vucic’s stance on Wagner’s Group and Ukrainian sovereignty
Wagner group in Serbia
- Serbo-Russian ties
- What to do?
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Disinformation narratives and influence operations |
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- From “special military operation” to the “Holly war against Satanists”
- The only American who Russians would not kill is Tucker Carlson
- Wagner Group mercenaries claim Ukrainian soldiers are used as a cannon fodder
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Kremlin targets the LGBT community |
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Putin's new crackdown targets the LGBT community |
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The approval of the law began to be felt in Russia instantly after it was signed. The fear of prosecution or a large fine of up to 400,000 rubles (5,200 EUR, 5,668 USD, 124,800 KČ) is visible in Russian LGBTQ society. Streaming services have deleted LGBTQ-themed films and series and cut out gay scenes. Just days after the law was passed, for example, the series White Lotus (HBO) changed the word "gay" to "man". Censorship also affects book titles. Across Russia, books with LGBTQ themes were instantly withdrawn from sale, or in some books, the texts were replaced by black lines. Various performances have also been canceled in major Russian cities. These included various drag queen shows, cabarets, and standup comedy shows. The first LGBTQ-themed museum was also closed. Thus, the more radical and newer version of the law not only affects personal relationships but also income and salaries in these businesses where members of the LGBTQ community felt free.
Olga Baranova from the “Moscow Community Center for LGBT+ Initiatives” said that the new law will further stigmatize and people who cannot leave Russia will have to go underground. As a result, many Russians are leaving their homeland and moving west to countries such as France and the Federal Republic of Germany after the controversial law was passed. However, not everyone has this option and those who remain in the country will face major problems.
The adoption of this law is also linked to the ongoing military invasion of Ukraine. Indeed, the approval of the extension of the law seeks to distract civil society from Russia's failures on the front line and the poor economic situation. Putin and the Kremlin have thus chosen to make the LGBTQ community a scapegoat, strengthening their position in the fight against 'the Western values'. Vladimir Putin, among others, has called homosexuality Satanism, and one of the authors of the law, homophobic nationalist Vitaly Milonov, rejects any accusations that the law is discriminatory, saying that people's private lives will be respected.
This law will also contribute to an even more significant number of suicides, which Russia is trying to conceal. Depressive and suicidal symptoms are ordinary among the LGBTQ community in Russia and are exacerbated by the stigma of just such laws that deny gay identity. Being gay is not a possession of the devil, nor an 'invention of Western civilization'. Being gay is normal, and every person who identifies within the LGBTQ spectrum has the right to have a decent life, and basic human rights and no one has the right to ban or prosecute people for their orientation. Therefore, Russia must repeal its federal law against homosexual propaganda as soon as possible.
Homosexuality may have been decriminalized in Russia in 1993, but homophobia and discrimination are still rife and it is only a matter of time before even more repressive amendments to these laws are made.
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At a time when thousands of people are dying in Ukraine and Russia is internationally isolated, it is not appropriate for the Kremlin to focus on the "LGBT propaganda" law. Thus, given the vagueness of Russian legislation, we do not know how and against whom the law will be used. Therefore, it is necessary for Western countries to monitor the situation in Russia and to grant asylum to people who went through discrimination because of their sexual orientation.
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Serbia does not support Russian invasion: "Crimea and Donbas are Ukraine" & “Wagnerian story” |
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Vucic’s stance on Wagner’s Group and Ukrainian sovereignty |
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On January 17th Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that his country does not support Russia's invasion of Ukraine and that the occupied Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions are part of Ukraine, reports Bloomberg. "We have said from the very beginning that we cannot support Russia's invasion of Ukraine. For us, Crimea is Ukraine, and Donbas is Ukraine. It will remain so," Vucic said. He emphasized that although Serbia and Russia have "traditionally good relations", this does not mean that Serbs support every single decision or most of the decisions that come from the Kremlin. President Vucic added that Serbia "is not always happy with some positions of the Russians."
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It should be noted that earlier the Russian private military company "Wagner", the founder of which is "Putin's cook" Yevgeny Prigozhin, began to recruit people to its ranks in Serbia. The relevant announcement was published in the RT Balkan. In response, The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, denied the accusations of the presence of the Russian military unit Wagner in Serbia. On January 16th, he stated on the air of the TV Happy channel that Serbia has a good law, adopted a few years ago on his initiative, which prohibits Serbian citizens from participating in foreign battles.
The President of Serbia also condemned the announcement of the Russian paramilitary group "Wagner" about accepting volunteers, which was published on RT Balkan. "What are you doing with Serbia, why are you calling someone from Serbia, when you know that it is against our laws," Vucic asked. On January 14th, a mural in honor of the infamous Russian Wagner unit was unveiled in Belgrade. The authors are far-right from the informal organization "Narodna patrulya", who shared the post on their Telegram channel. A day later, the mural was painted over.
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Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, Serbia has agreed to a new gas supply contract with Russia despite EU sanctions, and President Vucic has stated that he will not cancel flights to Russia in principle. At the same time, he said that Ukraine and some EU countries are allegedly behind the fake reports about the "mining" of flights. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine rejected these accusations and called them baseless. Despite the friendly relations with Russia, the Serbian authorities seek the country's accession to the EU. In 2009, the country officially applied for membership, and in 2012 it became a candidate for joining the EU. Negotiations are ongoing.
“Wagnerian story” in Serbia is a very uncomfortable political issue since attempts to recruit mercenaries in Serbia can be interpreted by Western partners as helping Russia. Statements from Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic against the Russian invasion and on the support of Ukrainian territorial integrity the next day after the RT Balkan publication on "Wagner" recruitment should be interpreted as a demonstration of dissatisfaction with Russian mercenary policy in the Balkan region, which could negatively affect the country's international position. Still, Serbia remains a pro-Russia state.
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There is a visa-free regime between the two countries, and joint military exercises and cultural integration are held. Economic relations between the countries are very close, in particular, there is an agreement on free trade. As Serbia is quite dependent on EU support and keen on EU membership in the future, Serbia should avoid any connections with or activities in Serbia the "Wagner" group.
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Disinformation narratives and influence operations |
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From “special military operation” to the “Holly war against Satanists” |
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Russian propaganda has long been claiming that the West has been trying to create an “anti-Russia” state on the territory of Ukraine. According to this narrative, the revolution of dignity in 2014 was just that – a military coup that brought "anti-Russian" political leadership to Kyiv. After 11 months of a long failed attempt of blaming the West for provoking the war in Ukraine and the Kremlin's mantra to "denazify” the country with its “special military operation”, it seems the Kremlin needs to set an additional military objective, that is “de-salinization” of Ukraine. The idea of fighting with “Satan" was earlier voiced by Former President Dmitry Medvedev who claimed that Moscow was fighting a holy war against Satan.
Though this absurd claim was repeated by the most notorious propagandists a month ago, it was still not clear if the Kremlin was going to fully embrace this claim until recently, when Russian state TV Host and country’s top propagandist Vladimir Solovyov stated that they are moving from “special military operation to Holy war against Satanists” adding that Russia is "up against 50 countries that are united by Satanism”. It seems that the authorities in the Kremlin are now aiming to provide the Russian military with additional motivation by portraying the invasion in religious and spiritual terms, convincing them that they have to win a “holy war” against the West.
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The only American who Russians would not kill is Tucker Carlson |
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Since Russia launched its war against Ukraine, helping Kyiv in countering Moscow's brutal and illegal invasion has become a top priority for the US. In parallel with Russian soldiers failing on the battlefield, leaving the Kremlin in constant fear of losing the war, the West has been increasing its military and financial assistance to Ukraine. Last week the US and NATO allies agreed on sending a fresh package of heavy weapons to Ukraine which sparked a new wave of aggression from Russian propagandists.
As a response to these developments, in a recent political talk show on Russian state TV, panelists discussed the ways to respond to the US support for Ukraine. In this regard, RT’s Margarita Simonyan warned that Russia might use nuclear weapons against Washington, which, according to her, will lead to mutual destruction – “Who needs the world if Russia is not in it?” – said Simonyan. Propagandists even came up with the idea of killing scores of Americans since this, according to the pundits, is the only thing the US cares about. One of the “political experts” on Russian TV 1, Dmitry Drobnitsky added sparkle to this idea, saying that the only American they would not kill would be Fox News host Tucker Carlson, whose comments on the war always mirror the claims of the Russian propaganda.
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Wagner Group mercenaries claim Ukrainian soldiers are used as a cannon fodder |
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Since the start of Russia’s Ukraine invasion, authorities in Moscow have been insisting that this was not the war with Ukraine, but rather a global confrontation with the West, claiming the US was waging a proxy war, using Ukrainian soldiers as cannon fodder against Russia. To support this claim, they now brought a witness for the war zone – a Wagner Group mercenary. According to the article published by the Kremlin's RIA Novosti, one of the Wagner group fighters explained to them that “Western mercenaries” in Ukraine are fighting in better conditions leaving Ukrainian soldiers alone in the inconvenient situation – "When it's inconvenient to fight when the dirt is knee-deep, there are poor soldiers from armed forces of Ukraine, and when it's convenient and everything is frozen, tough guys come, get hit, run away, and again the Ukrainian soldiers remain."
There are no "Western mercenaries” fighting in Ukraine – foreign nationals defending Ukraine against the Russian invasion are voluntarily participating in the war. And the fact that Ukrainians are defending their country, giving up their lives, shows that Russians are waging an aggressive war, and not liberating anyone, as claimed by the official Kremlin propaganda.
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Karolína Mrázková – Dmytro Filonenko – Mariam Lashkhia
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