Until now, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other high-ranking Russian officials and representatives of the Russian Federation’s foreign policy constantly denied that Russia’s strikes on Ukrainian cities were aimed at intimidating the civilian population. They claimed that these attacks were solely on Ukraine’s military-industrial complex objects and infrastructure used for the needs of the Ukrainian army.
Tolstoy was the first to betray them all. He said what everyone in Moscow already understood, but feared to admit — at least until today.
The strikes by the Russian army on Ukrainian territory are primarily aimed at intimidating and demoralizing the civilian population, provoking protests against the Ukrainian government with calls for Ukraine’s surrender on any terms that may be set by the Russian Federation.
At the same time, Pyotr Tolstoy rejected the notion that there are any Ukrainian citizens who support the Russian aggressor, noting that in the territory bombed by the Russian Federation army, there are no innocents. Approaching with strict criteria, the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation openly admitted to the war crimes of his own disgraceful country and called for the continuation of these war crimes. In the spirit of Hitler’s approach to war, Tolstoy urges firing at women and children, believing they are complicit in Ukraine’s resistance to occupation.
Yes, this somewhat confirms the thesis posited by Russian President Vladimir Putin even before the great war with Ukraine began, when the head of the Russian state claimed that if the Russian army entered Ukraine’s territory, Ukrainian women and children would stand before Russian soldiers. But back then, at least Russia’s foreign policy department explained Putin’s barbaric statements, claiming exclusively that Ukrainian citizens would welcome Russian soldiers with flowers and lead their invading columns. Now, Russian leaders no longer have any illusions. They understand that no one in Ukraine plans to greet them with flowers. They aim to destroy and intimidate the civilian population. They want to force Ukrainians to agree that there is no other choice than unconditional surrender to Russia and clearing their territory for the so-called victors.
And it is entirely logical that Pyotr Tolstoy was the first to make this statement. Not because he is now the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation and a failed journalist leading the party list of “United Russia” and must strive to prove his worth to his masters. But also because to openly talk about war crimes and call for them, one needs to be a blatant cynic. And Pyotr Tolstoy is quite comfortable with cynicism. Since I studied with him and later crossed paths with him on work trips, I can imagine well the level of contempt the direct descendant of Count Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy has for the Russian people and his own country. Because this contempt, when Pyotr Tolstoy with his native French language worked for the Agence France-Presse, was never particularly hidden. There was always a clear sense that the count was a true representative of the Russian elite, and everything around was semi-literate cattle to be used for his own interests. However, Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy himself told quite well about these moods of his own family — even possibly about its unborn members. I will not repeat or compete with him in this assessment of family sentiments. I will only emphasize that these attitudes found their brilliant confirmation in the 21st century.
A question may arise: why do the security forces need Pyotr Tolstoy if they are, of course, well aware of what he really thinks of them? What is the attitude of the descendant of a great writer and nobleman towards Putin, Volodin, and this entire gang from the lower echelons of society? But it seems to me that this is also quite obvious.
If you are from a spat-upon St. Petersburg entrance, it naturally brings you special satisfaction when a whole count polishes your boots — classically, with his tongue. And, naturally, you will always keep such a count for services, as Stalin kept another “red count” — Alexei Nikolayevich Tolstoy.
Therefore, when you feel like a count in the service of the cattle and must prove to this cattle that you are trying to earn their trust, you are the first to speak about the war crimes of your hosts-curators, about what is on their mind, loudly, confident that such statements will not be condemned by anyone, on the contrary, will give you additional points in the Russian bureaucratic hierarchy. If you make your moral choice in supporting evil, sooner or later you start talking about the necessity of killing women and children, claiming that there are no innocents in the residential building your bandit army bombed, and explaining any genocide in terms of the national interests of the Russian state and people.
Therefore, the choice of Pyotr Tolstoy as the person who finally publicly voiced the criminal intentions of the Russian authorities is no accident. It is a pattern of cynicism that is now elevated to the rank of career competition. And there will be more and more such “honest” war criminals in Russian politics, who from the screens call to kill, rape, and rob, as the Russian aggressive potential grows and the territories of wars conducted by the Russian Federation increase.
Photo: Media of the occupiers
