Russia is currently an autocratic state.
America is a democratic one.
No one says that it is particularly good, nor perfect, nor that it is not imperialistic. But it is a democracy. Russia is not. On any ground.
Russia attacked Ukraine, and not the other way around.
No one says that Ukraine is a country without corruption, a bright spot of democracy and a great place for living. But it is the one attacked, and not the other way around.
Russia is currently not in conflict with America, but with the entire democratic world.
That democratic world is neither perfect or without a sin, but is at the highest level of the current civilizational development of mankind. Russia is at the bottom.
The world has a problem with fake news and disinformation. Different tools are created for reducing them, for checking, for better informing. Because information is an essential part of practicing human rights. Putin’s regime has developed a machinery for producing fake news that is paid by state money and has put a ban on dissemination of information. There is an absolute ban on criticizing the government, arguing the activities of the government, holding the government accountable, criminal prosecution of high officials in the government. In Russia, any opposition is banned. That is the situation.
You can tell stories as much as you want and compare and make parallels.
There is a difference.
This is my standpoint as a professor, as a defender of human rights and as an expert in the field of human rights.
Prof. Mirjana Najcevska PhD
Translation: N. Cvetkovska
