Ukraine is All Blah-Blah-Blah Now.
An Essay by Faina Savenkova — a Child of Donbass
Once again, in lieu of writing my own article, I am sharing an essay by Russia’s famous child-writer, 13-year-old Faina Savenkova. She published this piece on September 28th, as the people of Lugansk were celebrating their overwhelming vote to join Russia. She is responding to an article published in Ukrainskaya Pravda, in which she was accused of being an unwitting Russian propagandist.
I have translated her article from Russian and included hyperlinks to the people and places she mentions. All notes in brackets are mine.
Ukraine is All Blah-Blah-Blah Now.
By Faina Savenkova
Monday morning began with my friends congratulating me on the referendum on joining Russia and once again I’m being accusing of working for the “bloody Putin regime” (I demand my salary!!!). As was recently written in another fantasy article by another fighter of the info-front from Ukraine — a citizen by the name of Samygin.
In a lengthy article he called me the “youngest author in the world,” which in itself is already delightful in its abnormality. Who, moreover, is being used in anti-Ukrainian propaganda. The man in a balaclava, Roman Zaitsev from the Mirotvorets website, I remember, also wrote a lot about me. So did the “Stop Fake Foundation” or some big center in America! But all of these were, as they say, private foundations and organizations, and the whole Center for Strategic Research of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine got involved! The Ukrainian state began fighting against a 13-year-old teenager. Again. And the president of this country [Ukraine] is not in the habit of punishing those who kill children. It’s already a habit to hurt those who can’t defend themselves. Of course, I wouldn’t have paid attention to this, however, this excellent article about how the “bloody Putin regime” uses children was aimed at a European and American audience. And not everyone there knows what is happening in my homeland so I cannot not answer to the amazing “expert” from “Ukrainskaya Pravda” whose article uses my name. It’s their own fault :)
So, here is the 1st quote from the opus “Sacred Victims and Yunarmiya: How Russian Fascism uses Children”:
“For several years now, Faina Savenkova, a thirteen-year-old girl from Lugansk, has been used to deceive people around the world, who must believe that in 2014 it was not Russia that attacked Ukraine, but Ukraine that began to destroy itself.”
The author of the article writes that I have been used for several years to tell untruths. What is there to say? This amazing journalist apparently does not know that in one of my first essays, “Adult Silence,” I describe the strike of a Ukrainian military plane on the center of Lugansk on June 2, 2014, as well as my family’s and friends’ memories of that event. Yes, in case the author of the article does not know, it was a Ukrainian air strike on Lugansk, so there can be no question of Russia there. Oh, Mr. Samygin? In the above-mentioned essay I only regret that at that time the army of my country [Ukraine], instead of protecting us, cruelly and callously killed innocent people in the center of the city, next to a kindergarten.
Moving on to number 2.
“Russia orchestrated another speech by this girl at the UN on December 22, 2021, right before a large-scale invasion. The propagandists intended to set up fertile information soil for a further attack on Ukraine and to justify more murders.”
That’s… This is… No, well, why be so shallow? Take it higher: I am the main reason for starting the Special Military Operation. It’s about time we remembered Mirotvorets’ claims that I should be considered an enemy of humanity. I hope this nobody Samygin understands the meaning of the word “sarcasm” and the tone of my words? If anything, I declare with full responsibility that I do not keep “death stars” under my bed and I do not make any attempts on humanity’s life.
But seriously, the claim that Russia specifically arranged the second meeting at the UN for me is the height of professional ineptitude. As always, everything is twisted and information is understated, as Ukrainian propagandists know how to do. Yes, I participated in the UN Security Council members’ Arria Formula meeting on the manifestation of fascism in various countries. And the meeting was organized by Russia. But it’s not a bad idea to say what kind of meeting it was and what it was specifically about, right? It’s defined as “informal meetings organized by a member or members of the Security Council for the purpose of holding a frank exchange of views in private, using a flexible procedural framework,” according to Wikipedia. Oops, here’s the rub! It’s an informal meeting. Plus, Olena Berezhnaya and several other public figures from Ukraine were there, and in addition, representatives from other countries. Did you forget to tell me that there is a recording of this meeting which anyone can watch? I’m afraid this meeting was not specially organized for me.
And, in general, it is funny and scary that such nonsense can be written by a well-known publication in Ukraine. By the way, I would like to tell the author of this bestseller that my first essay appeared a year before my address to the UN for Children’s Day was written. This truly amazing author did not notice, or perhaps bashfully failed to mention, that my position on the war and my texts were published not only in Russian and foreign media, but also in Ukraine itself. Naturally, when Ukraine was still a democracy, there was independent media, and politicians and journalists did not flee the country to avoid being arrested. So, again, a deliberate lie.
Part 3. “Vikhoreva organized the event.” “Here is an eloquent detail: It was this ‘cultural activist’ Irina Vikhoreva who previously arranged the provocation with the DPR [Donetsk People’s Republic] flag at the match between Shakhter and Roma [a soccer match].”
Unfortunately, I don’t know what flag Irina Vikhoreva was carrying at the Shakhtar-Roma match and how it can be connected to my presentation in Italy and fascist propaganda, but the author lied again. Yes, Irina organized it, but at that online presentation there were many journalists; public and political figures from Italy with completely different beliefs. Which, by the way, is surprising and somewhat indicative, because in other circumstances, a significant percentage of these people would not even shake hands. And the presentation was not only in Italy. Before that there was a similar presentation in the Czech Republic and in Russian cities, and later in Lugansk.
Number 4. And now my “favorite” Mirotvorets — “Peacekeeper.”
I have always said in interviews that I was outraged — not because the “Mirotvorets” site considered me both a victim of propaganda and a propagandist in one person (see the first screenshots from the “Mirotvorets” site) — I was outraged that this site put my personal data and that of my family in the public domain, which leads to the danger of crimes being committed. “Mirotvorets” violated European and American laws about personal information, as well as global laws on personal data in general. But if you, dear author, think that the laws of the civilized world are not laws for Ukraine, no questions asked, you can justify crimes against kids. Just a couple of questions: Do you have children or any nephews? Would you want their photos, phone numbers and class schedules to be given to people who have repeatedly committed crimes against children, when they are released from prison? Well, just as a little present. And that’s exactly what Mirotvorets does, illegally posting children’s personal data in the public domain.
It’s all those tiny details in which the devil is known to lie, isn’t it, Samygin? Do you think your readers don’t need to know such details, since you’re so diligent to obscure them, trying to hide them from prying eyes? The worst thing that has happened in Ukraine is that you can’t speak your mind. If you think that what the authorities say is untrue and wrong, then you are a propagandist and an enemy of Ukraine. Very convenient for someone who wants to become a dictator. And by this example, I demonstrate once again that it is very easy to accuse a person of propaganda — or indeed of anything else — by writing some truth and diluting it with a huge dose of outright lies, your own conjectures and very dirty falsification of facts. Is this modern journalism in Ukraine? It’s so unpleasant, as if you accidentally stepped in the mud. Well, never mind, we have hot water, so I will wash myself. But the Center for Combating Russian Propaganda will have to find a new journalist. This one is unconvincing. It’s all blah-blah-blah.
About the author:
Deborah Armstrong currently writes about geopolitics with an emphasis on Russia. She previously worked in local TV news in the United States where she won two regional Emmy Awards. In the early 1990’s, Deborah lived in the Soviet Union during its final days and worked as a television consultant at Leningrad Television.
