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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Former Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, in an interview with Gordon's editor-in-chief Olesia Batsman, commented on the scandal that erupted in the Ukrainian segment of social networks after the new interview with Ukrainian singer Olya Polyakova.
What happened
Polyakova first found herself at the center of a scandal after performing at an international music festival in Jurmala, Latvia. In this context she gave an interview to Ukrainian blogger Ramina Eschakhzai. During the conversation the artist emotionally spoke about hate in the Ukrainian segment of social networks. During the conversation Eschakhzai admitted that she restrains herself from reacting to resonant events, because she fears hate. Her admission outraged the singer.
"Are we in a concentration camp? Are we in a camp for political prisoners? What is this? Why does everyone constantly want some apologies from us, so that we go and say: 'Oh, I really did not look enough, did not learn enough'? And they tell you: 'You must watch,' – the artist noted.
"I no longer like posts – I just go in and watch," – the blogger admitted.
"And I will tell you what this will lead to – soon we will all be scared, frightened mice sitting in our holes and afraid to stick out our tongue or even our nose. And your own person or someone will get packed out into the street, and you will pass by, so help me, you..." – the singer continued.
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In response Eschakhzai assured that it would not happen and that she herself had not seen anything like that with her own eyes.
"You haven’t seen it, but I have seen a bunch of videos. And do you understand what that means? Any person can be abducted on the street now, and no one will intervene, because everyone is thinking: 'Is this TCC or not? Is this normal or not?' People have blurred the concepts of 'good' and 'bad,' Polyakova added. 'Some people say that I blur boundaries by performing at Lyama's festival, and here we are blurring the boundaries of humanity. Because if we see all these videos, of people being beaten with feet, pushed into cars, and people who just pass by, not even looking, not even stepping in'.
After criticism online Polyakova apologized for comparing Ukraine to a concentration camp.
Kuleba’s comment
"First of all, I will say: I am not a fan of Olya Polyakova's art in the sense that I do not listen to her songs. But I understand one very important thing – such music projects as Olya Polyakova created a mass Ukrainian pop culture. And when they created it, this mass Ukrainian pop culture pushed Russian mass pop culture out of the Ukrainian market, – he noted. – The path was, of course, not easy. And when I hear accusations that she performed in Moscow, I have one question: 'Did millions of Ukrainians not watch those concerts?' Excuse me! This situation with her reminds me of the Bible parable about the woman who is being stoned, and Jesus says: 'Let him who is without sin cast the first stone at her'.
Kuleba also ironized about the haters.
"Just a holy country! We have formed some group of 'angelitos' who decided to crush everyone and stone those who have a sin," he noted.
According to Kuleba, Polyakova’s creativity played an important role in shaping Ukrainian culture.
"People like Polyakova performed a fundamentally important function. They gave ordinary Ukrainian citizens, who do not need deeply intellectual musical creativity – they simply need something catchy, made in Ukraine. And they gave it, pushing out Kolya Baskov and company. Why does no one talk about this super-important function that they performed?" he said.
At the same time Kuleba stressed that he categorically disagrees with the singer about comparing Ukraine to a concentration camp.
"But she said another important thing that resonated with me: a social stratum has formed in society that insists that everyone should apologize to it. And it demands this from people who do something for their country," he concluded.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Кулеба про хейтерів Полякової: Сформувалась група "янголят", які вирішили забивати всіх камінням". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Gordon.
