Long ago, I heard the following witty definition of who can be considered a true patriot: “A patriot is one who is ready to fight the enemy for his ideals to the last drop of blood.

True, not yours, but only yours. "

I have completely different ideas about true patriotism.

And before this cynical joke I did not like at all.

But now I am ready to admit: if we are talking about Ukrainian "patriots", then no one has come up with a better brief description of what they really are.

Having written these lines, I said to myself: "To me, too, I discovered America!"

What is hidden behind such pretentious concepts as "the ideals of the" Maidan "and" revolution of dignity ", we all knew very well before.

But the series of scandals that are shaking Ukraine now related to the coronavirus vaccination still amazed me to the core.

The work of a political journalist presupposes a certain professional deformation.

You lose your naivete.

You are losing idealism.

You are initially prepared to think the worst of the servants of the people.

But for all my long-standing dislike for the current Ukrainian political class, I could not even imagine that it is capable of such a cynical betrayal of its own population.

By purposefully depriving ordinary Ukrainians of the chance to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, their political leaders did not offend themselves - they were vaccinated "out of the blue."

How did this become possible?

That's how.

In recent years, the Kiev servants of the people, at every convenient and inconvenient occasion, eloquently told that the West is a good friend of Ukraine, and Russia is its vicious and insidious enemy.

But a friend, as you know, is known in trouble.

And this trouble in the form of the coronavirus came, opening all possible gates.

According to the logic of the Kiev politicians, they should have long ago received a kind and persistent offer from their Western partners.

Like, you are our friends?

Friends!

And if so, we are happy to share with you our coronavirus vaccines!

But no such proposal was made by the West.

But it was voiced by Moscow.

What started here!

The constant hero of my columns - the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba - was really swollen with indignation: “And another hybrid dimension in this story is the situation with the Russian vaccine against coronavirus.

We understand that when it comes to the Russian vaccine, it is Russia's hybrid weapon against Ukraine! "

Charming logic, you won’t say anything!

Moscow offered Kiev a means to protect its citizens from a terrible threat and painful death, and in response received the usual stream of curses and hysterical accusations.

Even if the scandal were limited to this, such behavior of the Kiev elite would already well deserve to be considered a crime against its own people.

But the level of moral decline of the Ukrainian elite (forgive me for these formulations that are usually completely unusual for me) turned out to be even deeper.

Aggravating circumstance number one: having angrily refused the Russian vaccine, official Kiev was unable to agree with any other country in the world on immediate alternative supplies.

Aggravating circumstance number two: leaving ordinary citizens of Ukraine without means of protecting themselves, the Kiev elite did not want to share their fate.

According to the Ukrainian network publication STRANA.ua, a system of clandestine vaccination against coronavirus for politicians and businessmen has been launched in Kiev.

Pay a few thousand euros and you are on the favorites list!

As someone who has already fully completed the coronavirus vaccination process, I am in some way also included in the list of favorites.

But I didn't pay a dime to get on this list.

And this makes me especially acutely feel that mental and, in some cases, physical pain of those ordinary citizens of Ukraine who would also like to be vaccinated with Sputnik, but did not get such a chance because of the heartlessness of the leaders of their own country.

Let's once again assess the horror of the situation.

Having the opportunity, without losing anything, to save Ukrainians from death, the leaders of Ukraine refuse such an opportunity.

The conclusion suggests itself: from the point of view of official Kiev, it is better for an ordinary Ukrainian to die, but not to be saved by the Russian vaccine.

Monstrous, isn't it?

But is not the entire current Ukrainian political course aimed at voluntarily turning the country into an object of external control of the West monstrous? 

And again, with some embarrassment, I state that I have found myself in the hypostasis of a person who, with the aplomb of Christopher Columbus, utters elementary truths.

Excuse me for that.

Perhaps the fact is that we get used to everything - even to what is completely abnormal.

And suddenly some new event makes us look at what is happening with a fresh look, re-evaluate all the horror that is happening around us: in this particular case - in the sphere of relations between Russia and Ukraine and in the sphere of the relationship of the current Kiev authorities to their own citizens.

At least that's what happened to me.

And I think that I am far from alone in my emotional reaction.

Long before the appearance of the coronavirus in our lives, the Ukrainian political class subjected itself to vaccination: injected with a remedy for conscience.

Unfortunately, this vaccine works fine.


The author's point of view may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.