What do you think about Ukraine, about its prospects, about future relations with Russia?
There is no Ukraine. There is Ukrainianism. That is, a specific mental disorder. Surprisingly brought to the extreme degree passion for ethnography. Such bloody lore. Muddle instead of the state. There is borscht, Bandera, bandura. But there is no nation. There is a pamphlet called “Samostiyna Ukraine”, but there is no Ukraine. The only question is, does Ukraine no longer exist, or does it not exist yet?
Oddly enough, I’m an optimist. That is, I think that Ukraine does not exist yet. But over time, it will still be. Khokhols guys are stubborn, they will do it. However, what kind of Ukraine it will be, within what borders it will exist, and even, perhaps, how many Ukraines there will be are open questions. And one way or another, Russia will have to participate in resolving these issues.
Relations with Ukraine have never been easy, even when Ukraine was part of Russia. Ukraine has always been troublesome for the imperial and Soviet bureaucracy. Either Ataman Polubotok will let you down, then the Westerners will go over to Hitler. Forced coercion into fraternal relations is the only method that has historically proven effective in the Ukrainian direction. I do not think that any other will be invented.
What is Donbass for you?
Donbass is not something for me, but who. People first. Wonderful people. Zakharchenko, Khodakovsky, Borodai, Pinchuk, Bolotov, Bezler, Tolstykh… Many others. Sorry for not listing everyone. And I don’t have the right to name them all. And that he named the living on a par with the dead. They are real warriors. They do not, of course, need to be idealized. War attracts different people. War is a murky, dreary business. But necessary. They took on this hard work. And they did it.
In the Donbass, there, after all, life in civilian life is not sugar. All its inhabitants have gone through severe trials. And now it’s not easy. They are all heroes. As there are cities-heroes, so there are all the people-heroes.
Will Donbass return to Ukraine?
I don’t have a strong enough imagination to imagine that. Donbass does not deserve such humiliation. Ukraine does not deserve such an honor.