A statement by a self-proclaimed leader of the so-called "DPR," Alexander Zakharchenko, on creating a new state "Malorossiya" with its capital in Donetsk seems to be some gibberish by a sick man, perhaps, a drug or alcohol addict. From the very start, it was clear that this statement has not been agreed either with Putin’s aide Surkov, or any of the Donbas puppet republics’ supervisors from the Kremlin. So it's just delirious ravings, which have probably been discussed in militant circles and those of the administration of the Russian president.
Indeed, at this level, they may have discussed various plans, including a morbid idea of creating "Malorossiya." After all, the odious Vladimir Zhirinovsky used to speak a lot about it. But, of course, nobody built any actual plans to create "Malorossiya" so nothing serious stands behind these words and no real steps will be taken. Besides, the response by the “leader” of the neighboring occupied areas of Luhansk region, so-called “LPR,” Igor Plotnitsky, indicates that for this part of pro-Russian militants, the statement was a shock, too.
The turbulent response to Zakharchenko’s notorious statement on the part of the West is quite natural. Western officials, as any normal people, simply cannot grasp the fact that a person, whether stoned or drunk, can come out and say something of a kind. This is simply unthinkable. After all, if any western politician made a public appearance while intoxicated, this would mean the end of their political career. However, in "LPR” and “DPR” it always seems to be Friday night for their “officials.” They can easily show up drunk at local press conferences and TV shows. So naturally, Western politicians, without seeing or understanding the context, started to comment on the statement on the creation of "Malorossiya."
It should be understood though that no statements by those alcoholics from "LPR” and “DNR” are worth commenting on. It just so happened that Zakharchenko woke up terribly hungover and decided to come up with something to declare. But this in no way should be even discussed by experts, political scientists or politicians, because this is something to be dealt with by a shrink or a rehab specialist.
Taras Berezovets is a co-founder of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future, political technologist, and CEO at Berta Communications
