Ukraine has problems with hot water supplies and other hygiene issues, its president should beware of European gays, and the Russian-sympathetic Ukrainian politician and oligarch, Viktor “The Dark Prince” Medvedchuk, is a closet Ukrainian nationalist.
Well – that’s if you believe Russian President Vladimir Putin, who in his 16th annual call-in program on June 15 unleashed a bemusing collection of comments about Ukraine and the West.
Here’s a rundown of some of the interesting, false, or just plain odd comments Putin made during his four-hour marathon call-in show with the Russian public.
- Poroshenko should be wary of European gays
Putin referred to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s recent quoting of 19th-century Russian poet Mikhail Lermontov’s poem “Farewell, unwashed Russia.” He advised Poroshenko not to relax, as there are “lots of ‘blues’ in Europe.” The poem has a line about “officers wearing blue uniforms” and in colloquial Russian the word blue (goluboy) is a euphemism for “gay.”
- Ukraine has hygiene problems
This was another part of Putin’s response to the “Farewell, unwashed Russia” quote.
“Russia has a far better situation with hot water and other hygiene issues than Ukraine does,” Putin said, referring to the word “unwashed.”
- Putin’s pal, pro-Russian Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk has “nationalistic views”
“(Medvedchuk) has his own system of views on Ukraine,” Putin said, “It is based on the fundamental works of Ukrainian nationalists from the 18th Century and then (Mykhailo) Hrushevskiy, … (and Viacheslav) Chornovil. All of them thought that Ukraine needs to be an independent, but also a federal state,” Putin said, adding that many Ukrainian nationalists did not see Crimea as a part of Ukraine.
- Russia has not intervened into Ukraine
A seemingly pro-Russian caller from Kyiv asked Putin why has he had “abandoned Ukraine,” to which the Russian president replied that he is glad that he remembers about “Ukraine’s and Russia’s shared history.”
“I’m glad you remember about our shared history. Russia tries not to interfere in Ukraine’s internal affairs,” Putin said.
In fact, Russia is currently illegally occupying the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, and has for the last three years been waging an undeclared war against Ukraine in its eastern Donbas region.
- Russia didn’t meddle in the U.S. president election
When Putin was asked for his opinion on claims by the United States that Russia interfered in its presidential election in November, in which Republican candidate Donald Trump beat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, Putin said there was no evidence to back these claims.
“What do (the U.S.) want? For all of us to bow our heads?” Putin asked.
“The U.S. has influenced almost every territory in the world. Pick up a globe, randomly point anywhere with your finger, and you’ll find American interests there,” he added.
- There is no reason for anti-Russian sanctions
Putin also said he sees no reason for other countries to impose sanctions against Russia.
“What for? Nothing is happening. This is an evidence of the on-going internal political problems in the United States,” he said.
In fact, the United States, European Union and other countries imposed sanctions against Russia after it invaded and occupied the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, and because it instigated a war in the Donbas.
