RIA Novosti: Russian military source ridicules Ukrainian minister’s “victory parade” remarks

Map of Western CIS/FSU and European Environs

(RIA Novosti – Moscow, July 7, 2014) Remarks by the new Ukrainian defence minister, Valeriy Heletey, about an impending “victory parade in Ukrainian Sevastopol [the biggest city in Russian-annexed Crimea]” suggest regression [Russian: degradatsiya] in the Ukrainian military leadership, a senior source in the Russian military department [Defence Ministry] said.

“Such words by what is already a fourth appointee to this extremely important post in six months are not surprising. They reflect the depth of general regression in the Ukrainian military leadership,” the source told the agency.

“In Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, this is called ‘negative selection’, which is when only the worst individuals are consistently selected from among the entire population <…> [source punctuation] Those who are today using heavy artillery to exterminate their own people probably cannot be called anything other than that,” he added.

[In a separate report, RIA Novosti carried further remarks by presumably the same source in the Russian military. He drew parallels between the proposed Ukrainian “victory parade” and the march of German POWs through the streets of Moscow on 17 July 1944. “We have a lot of historical experience of giving such victors a worthy reception on Russian soil and organizing their subsequent parades,” the anonymous source said. “We are ready to organize such a parade, under escort, for everyone wishing to take part, for those who remain in good health and able to move around independently,” he added. (RIA Novosti news agency, Moscow, in Russian 1525 gmt 7 Jul 14)]

 

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