Kelin Time
by Alex Kokcharov
Kelin started with prepared introductory remarks, which consisted of usual Kremlin’s lies:
- Russia and Ukraine are basically one country/culture
- The West has been meddling in Ukraine since 2014, trying to rip it away from Moscow
- Euromaidan of 2014 was a Western instigated coup
- The “Kyiv regime” was discriminating against the Russian speakers in the east
- The “Kyiv regime” began the war against its own people in Donbas
- Russia had no other choice but to interfere in February 2022
- The West is prolonging the suffering of Ukrainians by supplying Ukraine with weapons
- Ukraine is a “failed state” with non-functioning economy: “industry is gone, agriculture is gone, population has halved”.
- Ukraine is corrupt and Western taxpayers’ money is stolen by corrupt politicians.
And similar lies.
What’s remarkable, is that both during his remarks and Q&A Kelin constantly slipped from the official Kremlin line. He called the war in Ukraine a war multiple times. He said “we are rebuilding damaged cities in Ukraine” while talking about Mariupol, etc.
My first question: Kelin said in January 2022 that Russia had no plans to invade Ukraine. Was he lying or kept in the dark?
Kelin responded that the decision was made in February 2022 by a very small group of people in Russia’s leadership, and neither he nor other ambassadors were notified beforehand. So he "wasn't lying", he was only providing the official position.
My second question: You said that Russia invaded Ukraine to allegedly protect the Russian speakers, but the biggest devastation was in areas with Russian-speaking Ukrainian population – Mariupol, Sievierodonetsk, Bakhmut. Is there a contradiction?
Kelin responded that the Russian army was only targeting military infrastructure, and was never destroying civilian infrastructure. He said “we are now actively rebuilding cities and towns in Ukraine, just look at Mariupol”.
My third question: The Ukrainian economy has indeed suffered, but this was due to the fact that Russia has been heavily bombing Ukraine for the past 14 months, and is occupying nearly 20% of the country. Isn’t Russia responsible for all these problems in Ukrainian economy?
Kelin responded that any damage was collateral, and said – look at what the US did in Iraq. Then he corrected himself and acknowledged that Russia was targeting energy infrastructure, albeit unsuccessfully.
According to Kelin, all strikes on industry were aimed at destroying Ukraine’s weapons manufacturing, and Russia wanted to be friends with the Ukrainian people.
The majority of questions were challenging Kelin’s initial remarks, offering a very different perspective of Russia as an aggressor engaged in an illegal war. This included those who had recently travelled to Ukraine: they cited their eyewitness accounts of Russia's crimes.
Much of Kelin’s responses were pure whataboutism and criticisms of the US and UK actions in Iraq, Libya, or Serbia. He also pleaded with the audience to stop reading Western media and listening to Western governments, and to listen to what Russia has to say.
There were questions/comments from two people who were sympathetic to Kelin’s narratives. One came from an older guy (around 60) with a thick Russian accent who before that was complaining about how difficult it was to travel between Russia and UK with no direct flights.
There was also a young guy, in his 20s, who said he was half Russian / half German. He said he fully supported Putin and his “special military operation” against “the Nazis in Ukraine”. He asked Kelin why did Russia was so “modest” in its bombing of Ukraine? He also asked why did Russia not bomb Kyiv to the ground, thus eliminating the entire Ukrainian government? He added that his family back in Russia was fully supportive of the war and that his uncle volunteered to fight for the Russian forces and was killed near Bakhmut.
In response to these remarks/questions Kelin sounded even "nice" of sorts (under the circumstances), claiming that Russia was not at war with the Ukrainian people but rather with the “Kyiv regime”.
When Kelin and the embassy staff were leaving, he shook the hand of an Oxford professor who hosted the event in her home. This professor was sat next to the aisle just in front of me. While walking by me, Kelin offered his hand for a handshake to me and smirked. I did not move and said in Russian: “I speak Russian perfectly and I don’t buy your disinformation”. To which he responded “I know, I know. I know who you are”. And he tapped me on a shoulder. To me this (both verbal and non-verbal) interaction meant his admittance to me personally that he had been lying through the entire event, and he had been simply “just doing his job”.
After Kelin and the embassy people had left, there was a pause, as people attending the event were not sure on when to leave, as there was a small protest rally taking place on a street outside, organised by those supporting Ukraine.
I left the house first and spoke to the protesters in Ukrainian and English, explaining who I was, why I was there, and what was the mood in the room. To me it was important that the audience was not taking Kelin’s points at face value and challenged him. This diffused the atmosphere – and the protesters agreed to pose for a photo.
They were a diverse group, including Ukrainians, Russians, Britons and others who support Ukraine, who held their peaceful protest against Russian officials getting a platform in the West. Within several minutes everyone from the event was gone, and there were no altercations/issues of any kind. Also, many thanks to Thames Valley Police for posting police officers to the area for additional security.
by Alex Kokcharov
On Thursday 11 May, there was a talk by Russia’s ambassador Andrey Kelin in Oxford, UK. It was not organised by, or took place at, the University of Oxford. It was organised by the Oxford Russian Club, which is a society not affiliated with the University.
I decided that if the event was taking place, I was to attend to be able to ask the ambassador challenging questions, thus undermining his narratives. As a former president of the Oxford University Russian Society in 2000 I could attend the event for free, and was given three questions.
Again - I did not pay. Otherwise I would not have attended.
I decided that if the event was taking place, I was to attend to be able to ask the ambassador challenging questions, thus undermining his narratives. As a former president of the Oxford University Russian Society in 2000 I could attend the event for free, and was given three questions.
Again - I did not pay. Otherwise I would not have attended.
Kelin started with prepared introductory remarks, which consisted of usual Kremlin’s lies:
- Russia and Ukraine are basically one country/culture
- The West has been meddling in Ukraine since 2014, trying to rip it away from Moscow
- Euromaidan of 2014 was a Western instigated coup
- The “Kyiv regime” was discriminating against the Russian speakers in the east
- The “Kyiv regime” began the war against its own people in Donbas
- Russia had no other choice but to interfere in February 2022
- The West is prolonging the suffering of Ukrainians by supplying Ukraine with weapons
- Ukraine is a “failed state” with non-functioning economy: “industry is gone, agriculture is gone, population has halved”.
- Ukraine is corrupt and Western taxpayers’ money is stolen by corrupt politicians.
And similar lies.
What’s remarkable, is that both during his remarks and Q&A Kelin constantly slipped from the official Kremlin line. He called the war in Ukraine a war multiple times. He said “we are rebuilding damaged cities in Ukraine” while talking about Mariupol, etc.
My first question: Kelin said in January 2022 that Russia had no plans to invade Ukraine. Was he lying or kept in the dark?
Kelin responded that the decision was made in February 2022 by a very small group of people in Russia’s leadership, and neither he nor other ambassadors were notified beforehand. So he "wasn't lying", he was only providing the official position.
My second question: You said that Russia invaded Ukraine to allegedly protect the Russian speakers, but the biggest devastation was in areas with Russian-speaking Ukrainian population – Mariupol, Sievierodonetsk, Bakhmut. Is there a contradiction?
Kelin responded that the Russian army was only targeting military infrastructure, and was never destroying civilian infrastructure. He said “we are now actively rebuilding cities and towns in Ukraine, just look at Mariupol”.
My third question: The Ukrainian economy has indeed suffered, but this was due to the fact that Russia has been heavily bombing Ukraine for the past 14 months, and is occupying nearly 20% of the country. Isn’t Russia responsible for all these problems in Ukrainian economy?
Kelin responded that any damage was collateral, and said – look at what the US did in Iraq. Then he corrected himself and acknowledged that Russia was targeting energy infrastructure, albeit unsuccessfully.
According to Kelin, all strikes on industry were aimed at destroying Ukraine’s weapons manufacturing, and Russia wanted to be friends with the Ukrainian people.
The majority of questions were challenging Kelin’s initial remarks, offering a very different perspective of Russia as an aggressor engaged in an illegal war. This included those who had recently travelled to Ukraine: they cited their eyewitness accounts of Russia's crimes.
Much of Kelin’s responses were pure whataboutism and criticisms of the US and UK actions in Iraq, Libya, or Serbia. He also pleaded with the audience to stop reading Western media and listening to Western governments, and to listen to what Russia has to say.
There were questions/comments from two people who were sympathetic to Kelin’s narratives. One came from an older guy (around 60) with a thick Russian accent who before that was complaining about how difficult it was to travel between Russia and UK with no direct flights.
There was also a young guy, in his 20s, who said he was half Russian / half German. He said he fully supported Putin and his “special military operation” against “the Nazis in Ukraine”. He asked Kelin why did Russia was so “modest” in its bombing of Ukraine? He also asked why did Russia not bomb Kyiv to the ground, thus eliminating the entire Ukrainian government? He added that his family back in Russia was fully supportive of the war and that his uncle volunteered to fight for the Russian forces and was killed near Bakhmut.
In response to these remarks/questions Kelin sounded even "nice" of sorts (under the circumstances), claiming that Russia was not at war with the Ukrainian people but rather with the “Kyiv regime”.
When Kelin and the embassy staff were leaving, he shook the hand of an Oxford professor who hosted the event in her home. This professor was sat next to the aisle just in front of me. While walking by me, Kelin offered his hand for a handshake to me and smirked. I did not move and said in Russian: “I speak Russian perfectly and I don’t buy your disinformation”. To which he responded “I know, I know. I know who you are”. And he tapped me on a shoulder. To me this (both verbal and non-verbal) interaction meant his admittance to me personally that he had been lying through the entire event, and he had been simply “just doing his job”.
After Kelin and the embassy people had left, there was a pause, as people attending the event were not sure on when to leave, as there was a small protest rally taking place on a street outside, organised by those supporting Ukraine.
I left the house first and spoke to the protesters in Ukrainian and English, explaining who I was, why I was there, and what was the mood in the room. To me it was important that the audience was not taking Kelin’s points at face value and challenged him. This diffused the atmosphere – and the protesters agreed to pose for a photo.
They were a diverse group, including Ukrainians, Russians, Britons and others who support Ukraine, who held their peaceful protest against Russian officials getting a platform in the West. Within several minutes everyone from the event was gone, and there were no altercations/issues of any kind. Also, many thanks to Thames Valley Police for posting police officers to the area for additional security.
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