Russia Dons Lamb’s Wool to Dupe Global Youth
Leave it up to the Kremlin to use every dirty trick in the book to create the image of a respectable leadership. Its latest deceitful ploy involves innocent youth and students.
Moscow is planning to hold a World Festival of Youth and Students in Russia next month that will surely portray the country and regime as a paradise on Earth. Remember Russia’s Potemkin villages in 18th century Crimea?
The participating youth and students will not be exposed to Russia’s crimes against humanity, violations of human and religious rights of non-Russians in the country, and its aggression against neighboring independent countries. Organizers will shield the blood and destruction of its war in Ukraine from the participants’ impressionable eyes.
The greatest display of Russia’s arrogance will be the tours to occupied Crimea and Donbas. Three years ago Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine and violently seized these Ukrainian territories and with bayonets established its own dictatorships, disrupting regional and global peace, security and development.
The irony of this sham is that while Russia is glad handing youth from around the world, it is forcing its own youngsters to act as whistleblowers against their parents as hapless Pavlyk Morozov did under Stalin. Russian authorities also kidnap, persecute and imprison young people and minors in the occupied regions on a range of trumped up charges.
Not surprisingly, the websites of the Communist Party USA and People’s World are promoting this propaganda trap.
The glitz, glamor and excitement of this deceitful circus must not be allowed to poison the minds of the world’s young people. The Ukrainian government and the global Ukrainian diaspora are calling on Ukrainians around the world, the former captive nations, and their free world advocates to condemn this latest ruse by Russia and boycott it.
The Kremlin’s bloody war against Ukraine, human rights abuses at home, and obnoxious disregard for international opinion and condemnation must ostracize Russia from the global table.
Following are statements by Ukrainian organizations and URLs to additional information.
National Youth Council of Ukraine
Appeal of National Youth Council of Ukraine to civil society institutions around the world and the European Youth Forum
On October 14-22, 2017, the Russian Federation will hold the World Festival of Youth and Students, and young people from around the world are invited to participate in it.
The schedule of festival events includes a visit to temporarily occupied territories – the cities of Simferopol and Sevastopol – by foreign delegates. Moreover, organizers of the festival list these Ukrainian cities as parts of Russian regions.
Declared goals of the World Festival of Youth and Students to preserve the value of peace and democratic principles stand in sharp contrast to the activities of the organizers of this event and manifest conscious disregard of key principles of international law, specifically sovereignty and territorial integrity of an independent state and approval of criminal policies of the aggressor country.
Crossing the border of the part of Ukrainian territory which was annexed by the Russian Federation is one of the scheduled activities, and it represents a gross violation of sovereignty of Ukraine, laws of Ukraine, fundamental principles of international law, including the UN Charter, United Nations General Assembly Resolutions 68/262 “Territorial integrity of Ukraine,” adopted on March 27, 2014, and A/RES/71/205 "Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol”, adopted on December 19, 2016, the Baku Declaration, the resolutions of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and other multilateral international agreements where Ukraine and Russia act as parties.
According to Article 10 of the Law of Ukraine “On Securing the Rights and Freedoms of Citizens and the Legal Regime on the Temporarily Occupied Territory of Ukraine,” entry of foreigners to the temporarily occupied territory and exit from it is allowed only with the special permission via entry-exit control points. Breach of the above-mentioned procedure entails responsibility stipulated by the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
In view of the above mentioned information, we urge you to refrain from participation in the above-mentioned events on the Ukrainian territory temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation and World Youth Festival in the aggressor country that is organized by individuals that grossly disregard the state sovereignty of Ukraine, fundamental principles of international law and laws of Ukraine.
The schedule of festival events includes a visit to temporarily occupied territories – the cities of Simferopol and Sevastopol – by foreign delegates. Moreover, organizers of the festival list these Ukrainian cities as parts of Russian regions.
Declared goals of the World Festival of Youth and Students to preserve the value of peace and democratic principles stand in sharp contrast to the activities of the organizers of this event and manifest conscious disregard of key principles of international law, specifically sovereignty and territorial integrity of an independent state and approval of criminal policies of the aggressor country.
Crossing the border of the part of Ukrainian territory which was annexed by the Russian Federation is one of the scheduled activities, and it represents a gross violation of sovereignty of Ukraine, laws of Ukraine, fundamental principles of international law, including the UN Charter, United Nations General Assembly Resolutions 68/262 “Territorial integrity of Ukraine,” adopted on March 27, 2014, and A/RES/71/205 "Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol”, adopted on December 19, 2016, the Baku Declaration, the resolutions of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and other multilateral international agreements where Ukraine and Russia act as parties.
According to Article 10 of the Law of Ukraine “On Securing the Rights and Freedoms of Citizens and the Legal Regime on the Temporarily Occupied Territory of Ukraine,” entry of foreigners to the temporarily occupied territory and exit from it is allowed only with the special permission via entry-exit control points. Breach of the above-mentioned procedure entails responsibility stipulated by the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
In view of the above mentioned information, we urge you to refrain from participation in the above-mentioned events on the Ukrainian territory temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation and World Youth Festival in the aggressor country that is organized by individuals that grossly disregard the state sovereignty of Ukraine, fundamental principles of international law and laws of Ukraine.
Ukrainian World Congress
The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) is calling upon the international community, specifically youth and student organizations, and governments worldwide to boycott the World Festival of Youth and Students being hosted by the Russian Federation October 14-22, 2017.
Supporting the call of the Government of Ukraine, the UWC draws attention to the blatant violation by the Russian Federation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity with this event which takes place on the temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation Ukrainian territory, specifically the cities of Sevastopol and Simferopol.
Foreign delegations will be traveling freely across borders in violation of the UN Charter, Resolutions of the UN General Assembly and OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, as well as other multilateral international treaties to which Ukraine and the Russian Federation are signatories.
The organization of this festival crudely mocks the international community which has resolutely condemned the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, including the illegal occupation of Crimea, and imposed sanctions in response to these actions.
The World Festival of Youth and Students is yet another example of the tactics of the Russian Federation in its hybrid war involving, in this instance, young people to undermine the territorial integrity of a sovereign state.
“The Ukrainian World Congress calls upon governments to ensure that their youth and students are not used to promote the disinformation being spread by the Russian Federation by issuing a boycott of the World Festival of Youth and Students,” said UWC President Eugene Czolij.
Additional information and updates:
