\n\t As Vladimir Putin\u2019s war in Ukraine rages on, unverified images from the frontlines have become increasingly commonplace, circulating on Twitter, Facebook, and Telegram, often promoted by anonymous accounts. These images show real events, but the circumstances behind them are often warped and exaggerated by Putin\u2019s propaganda machine as a pretext for more military aggression.\t<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of the most shocking images have shown young women and girls being taped to lamp posts, their faces covered with a \u2018brilliant green\u2019 triarylmethane antiseptic dye, Zelyonka, widely used in both Russia and Ukraine as an alternative to iodine. Zelyonka stains the skin and is difficult to remove, and has been used as a form of protest by groups in both countries for years. In Russia, it\u2019s frequently deployed against Kremlin<\/a> opposition activists by supporters of Putin and by Russian nationalist<\/a> groups, and in Ukraine against liberal reform campaigners by far-right groups<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Harrowing images of these fresh Zelyonka attacks \u2013 allegedly by Ukrainians \u2013 have been weaponised in an attempt to validate the false Kremlin narrative about \u2018de-Nazification\u2019 as a justifiable pretext for invasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Zelyonka images have prompted a series of potential explanations on Twitter, with users attributing the reasons for the punishment variously to \u2018Russian speakers\u2019, pickpockets, and Romani people being targeted by far-right vigilante Ukrainian groups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The first answer lacks credibility, given the huge proportion of Russian speakers in Ukraine \u2013 it being the most common first language in many eastern regions. According to the 2001 Ukrainian census, 29.6% of Ukraine\u2019s population consider Russian their native language, with many more speaking the language, and the country is home to more than 8 million Russians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More common are the two assertions that the alleged victims are Romani citizens, an assertion used by several pro-Putin accounts as evidence of the unredeemable depth of \u2018Nazification\u2019 in Ukraine and, therefore, justification for Russia\u2019s illegal invasion of the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When the Russian state-controlled broadcaster RT picked up<\/a> on the attacks, it ran with the headline: \u2018Roma tied to lamp posts and sprayed with dye in Ukraine\u2019. The article mentions that \u201caccording to local media, the victims were punished for trying to steal from passengers on a bus\u201d. It then itself goes on to cite \u201cclaims on social media\u201d that \u201cthey were only trying to steal food, as they were starving after escaping from Kiev [sic]\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The images were also shared by the Telegram media account of Vladimir Solovyev, a Putin-affiliated journalist and propagandist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Images showing vigilante \u201cjustice\u201d targeting people accused of looting and shoplifting had been circulated at least a month prior to the Zelyonka attacks. There have been numerous reports<\/a> of thieves being punished in this way, with locals taking it upon themselves to \u201cmake examples\u201d of people. These images have also been exploited<\/a> by Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The explanation offered by RT is refuted by the Czech outlet Romea<\/a>, a news organisation sharing stories from the Roma communities across Europe. Romea released an article on 22 March, a day after the images started circulating, explaining that they were \u201cbeing disseminated through social media along with the untrue claim that the individuals in the photographs are internally displaced people from Kyiv who were unjustifiably attacked by local Ukrainians immediately upon arrival in Lviv\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Local Roma activist Julian Kondur told Romea that: \u201cThe people in the photos have been caught in Kyiv for pickpocketing several times. Their photos have been taken and shared by several groups that publicise such cases. In Lviv there is a group calling themselves \u2018The Hunters\u2019, who persecute Romani people involved in pickpocketing in public places\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He went on to add that several members of \u2018The Hunters\u2019 \u2013 who perpetrated the assaults \u2013 had already been identified, and confirmed that \u201cRussia is exploiting this to accuse Ukraine of allegedly being run by Neo-Nazis\u201d. Research conducted by Dutch outlet Knack<\/a> has further confirmed the link to \u2018The Hunters\u2019, a violent organisation that describes itself as \u201cordinary citizens of Lviv who are tired of what Roma are doing to their city\u201d and that has been operating for some time<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ukraine, like many other European states, does have a serious problem with ongoing discrimination against its Roma citizens. The minority group has been targeted by far-right groups<\/a> in multiple cities, has severely limited access to<\/a> education and healthcare, and has faced violent \u2018pogroms\u2019<\/a> with little to no intervention on behalf of the state. Many Roma who now face poverty and discrimination do so after being forcibly displaced<\/a> as a result of Russia\u2019s annexation of Crimea in 2014. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite this, many have now been recruited<\/a> into Ukraine\u2019s army to fight back against the Russian invasion, and in early March, nearly 200 pro-Roma and Romani organisations across the world<\/a> condemned and called for an end to Putin\u2019s war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As unjustifiable and shocking as the ongoing persecution of Roma in Ukraine is, which shouldn\u2019t be ignored purely because of factionalism or seen as a justifiable reaction to Russian aggression, it still doesn\u2019t validate Russia\u2019s claims of \u2018de-Nazification\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Ukrainian far-right received only 2% of the vote<\/a> in the 2019 election, the Ukrainian Government has opposed Russia\u2019s own persecution of Crimean Tartars<\/a>, and Russia has its own problems<\/a> with both the persecution of the Roma and repressive homegrown fascist tendencies<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the Russian retreat from towns closer to Kyiv continues to reveal mounting evidence of war crimes, it\u2019s worth remembering that the human and civilian cost of war is often unknown until far too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is clear that Roma have been among those targeted by vigilante groups during this war \u2013 turned into scapegoats. It remains to be seen how authorities will handle those gangs responsible, if at all. But reports of the decimation and death inflicted upon Ukrainian cities as the Russian army retreats have either been justified under the pretext of \u2018de-Nazifying\u2019 Ukraine or denied by the Kremlin altogether. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking in late March, RT editor-in-chief and key Putin ally Margarita Simonyan described Ukraine as being in a \u201ccollective madness\u201d<\/a> akin to Germans under Nazism, seemingly an attempt to justify the war crimes committed by Putin\u2019s forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nSmoke and mirrors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n