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The Constructive Path of "Russkaya Pravda"

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The Constructive Path of "Russkaya Pravda"

23.11.2015

On 22 November 2015, the Ukrainian newspaper Russkaya Pravda celebrated its 13th anniversary. For many years, this publication was a major voice of the ethnic and cultural Russian community in Ukraine. Since 2007, the newspaper has been the 'prerogative' of the Russian Union, the largest association of Russian cultural noncommercial organizations in Ukraine.

We spoke with Sergei Provatorov, longtime publisher and chief editor of Russkaya Pravda and current member of the World Coordinating Council of Compatriots, about the fate of the newspaper and its brand.


“The Russkaya Pravda newspaper, which has been an essential publication for our compatriots since November 2002, ceased publishing its print edition this year, and not just for monetary reasons as many people think,” Sergei Provatorov says. “The registration authority, Ukrgosreestr, declared the state registration certificate of our printed publication ‘null and void.’ It should be noted, however, that soon afterwards Ukrgosreestr ceased to exist, also rendered ‘null and void’—quite a sign of the times.”

“Considering that it was only in late March that we learned about our registration certificate being ‘null and void,’ and as soon as in early April, the dissolution of Ukrgosreestr started, there was no point to appealing against the decision. This is to say nothing of the ‘legal discomfort’ in Ukraine, to put it mildly.”

“Of course, Russians in Ukraine could not put up with the fact that the publication named Russkaya Pravda (“Russian truth” in Russian. – RM) was basically banned, especially considering the close historical ties between that brand and the territory of modern Ukraine.”

Sergei Provatorov believes that, despite the pressure from the Ukrainian authorities, justice will prevail and Russkaya Pravda will again bring enlightenment to the nation.

The publisher argues the newspaper and its authors have never been and will never be enemies of Ukrainians:

“We will not advocate the destruction of the state, because we do not need our country to be in ruins and chaos; we need a robust social state that would take care of its people and every one of its citizens. It is in the voice of Stolypin, whose remains were buried in the Kiev soil, that we hear the words about the past and the future of this nation. We need a great country, not great turmoil or a great ruin. When Stolypin spoke about Russia, he noted that “the way of radicalism, liberation from the historical past” was the way of opponents of statehood. We could say the same today: that radicalism, in all of its forms, is against statehood, order, stability and wholesome future. Every kind person, each and every one of our compatriots cannot be anything but important to us, as long as they treat other compatriots in a humane and just manner. Such is our conviction: we want to revive Russkaya Pravda as a platform for the people, where distinguished persons could represent grass-roots interests.”

As of now, it is impossible to resume publishing the print edition of Russkaya Pravda. Sergei Provatorov says that, in order to avoid needless complications in the already-complex relationship between the Russian community and the Ukrainian authorities, compatriots have chosen a constructive path.

On 18 November 2015, the 13th anniversary of the first issue of Russkaya Pravda, the management board of the Russian Union, a nationwide association of noncommercial organizations in Ukraine, decided to resume the activities of the Russkaya Pravda media group.

The Russkaya Pravda media group was established after the 2002 parliamentary elections when the Russian Movement of Ukraine brought together 17 Russian printed publications, the highest number in the history of Ukraine,” Sergei Provatorov says. “The movement was comprised of the Russkaya Pravda newspaper and other nationwide publications like the Russkiy Mir newspaper (with Georgy Vishnevetsky as chief editor), the Yuzhnorusskiy Vestnik magazine (with chief editor Pavel Tikhomirov) and 14 regional newspapers published by the RMU entities and activists,” he adds. “The contribution made by the nationwide noncommercial organization Russian Movement of Ukraine, which was led by Aleksandr Svistunov at the time, is invaluable. Those were, indeed, exquisite raptures of Russian souls standing for their ethnic and cultural rights. Unfortunately, the movement did not find the support it needed and, for many reasons, it ceased to exist and broke down into small associations by 2005. Essentially, we used it and some of its ‘fragments’ to assemble the ‘Russian Union’ that, up to 2011, was the main consolidating entity and the basis for coordinating councils of compatriots. This is why our new organization became responsible for ‘the main newspaper for compatriots,’ publishing it until 2015.”

Today, there are plans for a 'remake.' Needless to say, the Russkaya Pravda media group will not be able to assemble as many publications as its previous version. According to Sergei Provatorov, today’s group will be comprised of several new publications—print and online ones—aimed at representing and defending the rights of the ethnic and cultural Russian community in accordance with the current legislation of the state of Ukraine and international legal standards.

“To our shame and regret, we didn’t manage to meet many challenges our tragic history set before the Russian cultural community of Ukraine. We couldn’t properly follow up on many of our initiatives. That includes the Russkaya Pravda publication that could, if we had the resources we needed, bring the truly ‘living’ word of the Russian culture and language to the people. Even though we know that many things were beyond our control and our capacities, we have to admit that a large number of our problems were caused by how scattered we were. And it is vital that we correct all of our mistakes in the current context,” head of the Russian Union believes. “We hope our voice will be heard both here, in the country of our residence and citizenship, and in the whole world. And our main goals have nothing to do with sparking conflicts with our opponents, as those who try to misrepresent us say, but have everything to do with promoting our native language and the cultural legacy of our people—the legacy we, for the most and a very substantial part, share with the Ukrainian people.”

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