For & Against: Outrage at the Kremlin’s role in Ukraine’s violence is based on the evidence – and is not aimed at all Russians.

Without Double Standards

by Halya Coynash

This is a response to the 31 July column by Galina Stolyarova, “Outrage and Double Standards.” (1)

The presumption of innocence is a principle binding for all, and any stereotypes or wholesale criticism of citizens of a country because of their leaders’ policies must also be shunned. To this extent I see eye to eye with the author of “Outrage and Double Standards.” On next to nothing else, unfortunately.

Galina Stolyarova decries a “dangerous polarization of opinion between Russia and the West,” which has reached a crescendo in the “rhetoric and hysteria with the apparent shoot-down of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17.” She suggests that the “West” is fuelling” “ethnic hatred” of Russians and exercises double standards. She presents a highly contentious version of the events in Odessa on 2 May as supposed evidence of this.

Before investigating specific claims, I would mention two problems of a more general nature. The author aligns herself, presumably as a Russian, with the stand taken by those in power in Russia, including President Vladimir Putin and the Foreign Ministry under Sergei Lavrov. The polarization of opinion she perceives, “developed during the early months of the Ukraine crisis, creating a growing gulf between Russians and many parts of the outside world.” The Kremlin stand, including this “polarization,” is certainly echoed by all state-controlled media but can hardly be equated to the position of the Russian population. Many Russians do not support the Kremlin’s narrative with respect to events in Ukraine. There are also independent media outlets, such as Dozhd, Novaya Gazeta, and Grani.ru, that have consistently questioned the official position.

The other issue concerns basic standards of journalism that must be observed in order to achieve any real discussion. Some serious allegations are made with little or no possibility of checking them. The author generally backs contentious assertions by referring to comments made by anonymous people on Internet sites and cites “some Russian sources” or “some Russian audiences.” Meanwhile important details of direct relevance to her assertions are omitted.

Many Russians, she says, “compare this atmosphere to the deafening silence that greeted Russia’s repeated pleas for an international investigation of the 2 May massacre in Odessa. Dozens of pro-Russian protesters were burned alive when the building in which they had taken refuge from pro-Ukrainian gangs was set on fire.” The author does not give references to The New York Times article cited as a source for claims of monstrous behavior from Ukrainian activists “confirmed by witnesses from both sides” but appears to have used two reports from 3 May and 4 May. The later article does indeed cite witnesses on both sides but there is great reason for skepticism about that account, as anyone who has been following the events should understand.


(1) The flood of anti-Russian rhetoric in the West will lead us nowhere good. by Galina Stolyarova

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